Thermwood Announces Vertical Layer Printing

Posted by Duane Marrett on Thu, Oct 25, 2018

Tags: Thermwood, Announcements, aerospace, 3D printing, Additive, LSAM, 3D Print, Thermwood LSAM, Additive Manufacturing, Vertical Layer Printing, VLP

Thermwood has released a Vertical Layer Printing (VLP) option for its LSAM (Large Scale Additive Manufacturing) machines. This option allows parts to be printed which are as long as the machine table itself.

It does this by adding a second moving table, mounted perpendicular to the main fixed horizontal table. As layers are printed, this vertical table moves after each layer is printed, growing the part along the length of the machine rather than growing it upward. Thermwood’s “controlled cooling” print technology minimizes sag, which might otherwise pose a serious problem if the part were kept at an elevated temperature, as is common with traditional thermoplastic composite printing.

Vertical Layer Printing on a Thermwood LSAM


VLP Example Video

12 Foot Long ABS Trim Fixture for Boeing 777x Aircraft

As previously announced, one of the initial parts printed with this system is a 12 foot long, carbon fiber reinforced ABS trim fixture for use in the production of the Boeing 777X aircraft.

12 Foot ABS Trim Fixture for Boeing 777x printed on a Thermwood LSAM

VLP More Info

During development, Thermwood has vertically printed and validated the use of a variety of polymers, including high temperature materials such as PSU, PESU and PEI with good results. It appears that parts printed using VLP are structurally and functionally identical to parts printed in the traditional horizontal layer orientation.

This means that, just as with traditional horizontally printed LSAM parts, molds and tools printed using VLP maintain vacuum in an autoclave to aerospace standards right from the machine, without the need for any type of external coating.

Versatile Vertical Layer Printing

During VLP printing, the growing part rides on Teflon coated stainless steel belts. The belts and table drives (which can be fitted to any LSAM that is at least 20 feet long), have been designed to process parts which weigh up to fifty thousand pounds. Thermwood believes that this is more than adequate for anything customers are considering today.

Thermwood LSAM VLP Teflon coated stainless steel belt

During VLP printing, the growing part rides on Teflon coated stainless steel belts.

Print Long Parts in One Piece with VLP

The main advantage of Vertical Layer Printing is that long parts can be printed in one piece.

While it might be faster to print multiple sections of a large part simultaneously, they must then be bonded together so that they can be machined as a single piece. There are some disadvantages to this approach:

  • It requires time, labor and effort to machine mating surfaces, glue them together and wait for the adhesive to completely cure.
  • It may also require more than one bonding session for a larger part which typically requires more time and effort than simply printing the part in one piece.
  • Also, gluing printed parts together generally only works for certain room temperature or low temperature polymers.
  • Higher temperature materials are generally chemically and solvent resistant enough that they don’t bond well enough for autoclave use. This means if you want to 3D print a really large autoclave tool using a high temperature polymer, printing it in one piece is the only real option. Thermwood’s VLP now makes this both feasible and practical.

Quick Change from Horizontal to Vertical

VLP has been designed so that the machine can be reconfigured from standard horizontal layer printing to vertical layer printing or back again in a matter of a few hours. It is clear that technology exists, right now today, to 3D print large autoclave capable aerospace tooling on a production basis. Thermwood has already been granted patent protection on key aspects of its Vertical Layer Print technology. 


More Information on LSAM

LSAM is based on exciting new technology developed from an entirely new direction.

LSAM is intended for industrial production. It is not a lab, evaluation or demonstration machine, but is instead a full-fledged industrial additive manufacturing system intended for the production of large scale components.

Thermwood has already applied for 19 separate patents on various aspects of this new technology (several have already been granted and more will be coming as development continues). LSAM is truly “state of the art” in this exciting new world of Large Scale Additive Manufacturing. 

The Secret to LSAM Print Quality...A Different Process

Examples of large parts easily printed on Thermwood's LSAM

Click for More Info on the Thermwood LSAM

Boeing and Thermwood Partner to Demonstrate New 3D Printing Technology

Posted by Duane Marrett on Tue, Oct 09, 2018

Tags: Thermwood, Announcements, aerospace, 3D printing, Additive, LSAM, 3D Print, Thermwood LSAM, Additive Manufacturing, Vertical Layer Printing, Boeing, VLP, 777x


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Boeing and Thermwood Partner to Demonstrate New 3D Printing Technology

Boeing and Thermwood have employed additive manufacturing technology to produce a large, single-piece tool for the 777X program.  The project is demonstrating that additive manufacturing is ready to produce production quality tooling for the aerospace industry.

Thermwood used a Large Scale Additive Manufacturing (LSAM) machine and newly developed Vertical Layer Print (VLP) 3D printing technology to fabricate the tool as a one-piece print, eliminating the additional cost and schedule required for assembly of multiple 3D printed tooling components. In the joint demonstration program, Thermwood printed and trimmed the 12-foot-long R&D tool at its southern Indiana demonstration lab and delivered it to Boeing in August 2018.

Boeing Research & Technology engineer Michael Matlack believes the use of Thermwood’s additive manufacturing technology in this application provided a significant advantage, saving weeks of time and enabling delivery of the tool before traditional tooling could be fabricated.

Boeing & Thermwood tool after vertical layer printing

The tool was printed as a single piece from 20% carbon fiber reinforced ABS using the Vertical Layer Print system. Boeing purchased a Thermwood LSAM machine with the VLP functionality for the Interiors Responsibility Center (IRC) facility in Everett, Washington.

The ability to quickly produce large-scale tooling at a quality level suitable for a real world production environment represents a significant step in moving additive technology from the laboratory to the factory floor.

Boeing & Thermwood final machined part

Please click below for video  

 

More Information on LSAM

LSAM is based on exciting new technology developed from an entirely new direction.

LSAM is intended for industrial production. It is not a lab, evaluation or demonstration machine, but is instead a full-fledged industrial additive manufacturing system intended for the production of large scale components.

Thermwood has already applied for 19 separate patents on various aspects of this new technology (several have already been granted and more will be coming as development continues). LSAM is truly “state of the art” in this exciting new world of Large Scale Additive Manufacturing. 

The Secret to LSAM Print Quality...A Different Process

Examples of large parts easily printed on Thermwood's LSAM

Click for More Info on the Thermwood LSAM