Lockheed Martin has extended its use of MakerBot 3D printers to produce parts and designs for its upcoming space projects. MakerBot 3D printers have been in use for about five years, providing easily accessible 3D printing for Lockheed Martin’s team of engineers in a host of projects.

Lockheed Martin is a global aerospace and defence company, with a mission to connect, protect and explore. The company focuses on next-generation and generation-after-next technologies. In alliance with General Motors, Lockheed Martin is developing a new fully-autonomous lunar rover that could find use in NASA’s Artemis programme. This is a team that pays homage to the original Apollo rover, the development of which also involved GM.

Some early design and development elements of the rover’s autonomy system take place at Lockheed Martin’s state-of-the art R&D facility in Palo Alto, California. The Advanced Technology Center (ATC) is well-equipped with a variety of cutting-edge technologies, including a lab full of 3D printers.

The latest addition to the ATC’s lab is the MakerBot Method X 3D printing platform. With Method X, the team can print parts in materials like nylon, carbon fibre and ABS, providing the performance needed for accurate testing. Moreover, thanks to Method X’s heated chamber, Makerbot says the parts are dimensionally accurate without any variable warping that often comes with a typical desktop 3D printer.

“At ATC, we have multiple MakerBot printers that help with quick turnaround times,” says Aaron Christian, senior mechanical engineer, Lockheed Martin Space. “I will design a part, print it, and have it in my hand just hours later. This allows me to test the 3D-printed part, identify weak points, adjust the model, send it back to print overnight, and have the next iteration in the morning. 3D printing lets me do fast and iterative design, reducing wait times for a part from weeks to hours.”

Lockheed Martin engineers are testing a multitude of applications designed for the lunar rover. Christian and his teammates are using Method X to print a number of parts for prototyping and proof of concept for the rover project, including embedded systems housings, sensor mounts and other custom components.
“The MakerBot METHOD X produces dimensionally tolerant parts right out of the box – and for all sorts of projects,” says Christian. “You can print multiple parts that mate together.”

Many of these components are printed in MakerBot ABS and designed to withstand desert heat, UV exposure, moisture and other environmental conditions. In combination with Stratasys SR-30 soluble supports, parts printed using MakerBot ABS provide a smoother surface finish compared with breakaway supports. Printing with dissolvable supports also enables more organic shapes that would have been otherwise impossible to produce through traditional machining. In short, 3D printing encourages engineers to think outside of the box more than ever before.

“We’re in the very early stages of development and the rover we have at ATC is a testbed that we designed and developed in-house,” explains Christian. “This affordable, modular testbed facilitates quick changes using 3D printing to modify the design for other applications, whether it be military, search and rescue, nuclear applications, or any extreme environment autonomy needs.”

3D printing lets the team test parts affordably, iteratively and modularly. One of the components printed for the rover was a mount for a LIDAR, a sensor that can help determine the proximity of objects around it. Broadly used in self-driving vehicles, Lockheed Martin uses LIDAR in many of its autonomy projects. The mount was designed to sit on the rover, a completely modular robot system, so it was printed in ABS to handle more extreme conditions than typical PLA. The mount also allows engineers to continuously swap out the LIDAR with different sensors, such as a stereo camera, direction antenna, RGB camera or rangefinder. It has a complex organic shape that can be difficult to achieve via traditional machining. The mount also has generous access to ensure proper airflow and keep the part cool and temperature-regulated on the robots.

An embedded electronics housing is designed to go inside the rover, or in other robots at the ATC. Although the housing was printed in PLA, due to its hexagonal shape it offers robust strength. This design also lends itself well to the open airflow needed to cool the system, while still protecting the device.

In addition to printing prototypes, Lockheed Martin is using 3D printing for production parts that will go into various space-going platforms.

“A big advantage for testing and flying 3D-printed parts for space applications is that it simplifies the design,” says Christian. “You can create more complex shapes, and it reduces the number of fasteners and parts needed, which is a huge cost saving because that’s one less part that has to be tested or assembled. This also opens up for future in-situ assembly in space. You have designed, printed and tested the part on Earth. Now you know that, in the future, you can 3D-print the same part in space because you have shown that the material and part work there.”

Manufacturing in space is expensive but appealing for future applications and missions. Now, bulk materials can be flown into space to 3D-print multiple parts and structures, rather than flying each component out individually. Combining that with a digital inventory of part files, 3D printing in space reduces costs by eliminating the need for storage and multiple trips.

“The digital inventory concept helps push our digital transformation forward – you have digital designs that you can ship up, where you just print the parts and have them assembled on location,” concludes Christian.

For further information
www.makerbot.com

After winning a prestigious power generation project to turn critical stainless steel components, subcontract manufacturer Fairbrother & Grimshaw (Engineering) Ltd recognised that it needed to reconsider its machining strategy to improve cycle times and shop-floor throughput. The upshot was the arrival of a Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF turning centre from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

Based in Cherry Tree on the outskirts of Blackburn, Fairbrother & Grimshaw has a long-established relationship with ETG that dates back to buying recognised brands for more than a generation, prior to some brands being rolled into the ETG portfolio. In 2017, the relationship with ETG really blossomed for the company when it acquired two Quaser MV184 three-axis machining centres with Nikken 4th-axis rotary units from ETG.

Commenting upon the previously acquired Quaser MV184 machining centres, Fairbrother & Grimshaw managing director Neil Grimshaw recalls: “We needed to replace an ageing Bridgeport machine and, after doing our due diligence, we bought a Quaser MV184 from ETG. We liked it so much, we had a second one installed. The quality of machines from ETG is second to none and this is equalled by their customer service and support. That is one reason why, when we looked at a new turning centre, we opted for the Nakamura-Tome from ETG.”

The 12-employee company had won a long-term contract for 50-off stainless 316 components each month; and the challenging parts required three operations on a turning centre followed by 4th-axis machining on one of the Quaser MV184 machines. Fairbrother & Grimshaw recognised an opportunity to expedite the process with one-hit machining, while acknowledging that if its existing CNC turning centre had a breakdown, completing the monthly order would be problematic. Despite extensive market research, the Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF won the day with its twin-spindle configuration, long-bed specification, milling capability and Y axis that provides a 90% increase in turning length. With a longer Z-axis travel and a Hydrafeed barfeed, the new addition supports the production of complete parts either via its 8-inch chucking capacity or 65 mm automated barfeeding capacity.

Installing the Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF delivered results immediately, as Grimshaw confirms: “The Nakamura is like having four machines in one. By using the Y-axis milling and the sub-spindle facility, our parts are coming off the machine in one-hit. The benefits include a drastic reduction in set-ups, the elimination of second-ops and an overall cycle time reduction of more than 50%.”

He continues: “One-hit machining reduces the manual handling of parts, reduces human intervention and improves the overall quality and consistency of a batch of parts. We’ve recently installed a new Axiom Too CMM and the parts coming off the Nakamura are not only high in quality with excellent surface finishes, but the dimensions are consistent with zero deviation.”

With nine CNC machining centres and four CNC turning centres, the new Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF is bridging the gap between the two departments, permitting more milling work to be completed in a single operation in the turning department. This is gradually increasing capacity in the milling department as fewer parts require secondary milling operations.

Grimshaw says: “While we primarily bought the machine for the power generation part, we are witnessing similar savings on other legacy work that we’re transferring to the Nakamura. For example, we have a regular 1000-off series run of washers for the rail industry that was previously two operations. By transferring this to the Nakamura, we are machining the parts in one-hit, alleviating milling work from our 4th-axis Quaser and reducing our cycle times by more than 30%. Furthermore, with the barfeed facility, we can run the Nakamura unmanned until the batch is complete – saving on labour costs. Likewise, we have a die component for the food industry that is required in volumes of less than 100-off and the two turning operations and three milling operations are now a single operation on the Nakamura.”

The objective is to move more work to the Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF, but for Fairbrother & Grimshaw there is no urgency in expediting all its work to the new acquisition.

“We are moving legacy components onto the Nakamura when the opportunity arises but, as a busy machine shop running a three-shift pattern, our shop-floor team has to gradually build their confidence and competence on the machine,” states Grimshaw. “In this respect, ETG has been absolutely fantastic in supporting our machinists with any queries or issues they may have. Another appealing factor with the new Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF is the large-screen CNC control system. Young engineers want to be using the latest technology and the Nakamura has this in abundance.”

As the company gains confidence with the Nakamura, the benefits will continue to surface for Fairbrother & Grimshaw.

“Although we bought the Nakamura-Tome AS200LMYSF for a particular job, we knew it would reap rewards with other components,” says Grimshaw. “As that comes to fruition, we are seeing set-ups, cycle times and manual input continually decreasing. Additionally, we’re seeing throughput, quality, consistency, surface finishes and even staff motivation improving as a result of the investment.”

“As our experience with the new machine grows, we have the opportunity to both alleviate the capacity burden from our milling department by completing more milling work on the Nakamura, and look for new types of work,” concludes Grimshaw. “We can already see the added potential this machine is giving us to enter new markets and take on more challenging work. This really does offer us some exciting opportunities, while making our business even more competitive.”

For further information
www.engtechgroup.com

For any established subcontract business to switch from one CAM system to another can be a daunting prospect. Considering the training and skills invested in staff, the legacy programs and the prospect of having to re-program historical parts – many busy subcontract businesses will often stick to what they know. But for SRD Engineering, the change from a licence to a subscription CAM system did not fit with what the Bicester-based company wanted, so it made the switch to hyperMILL from Open Mind – a move the company is happy it made.

As a subcontract machine shop founded in 1989, SRD Engineering services clients in the motorsport and automotive sectors, as well as aerospace, oil and gas and medical among others. However, when its CAM software provider changed to a subscription-based model, the company started to investigate various alternatives available on the market.

SRD Engineering’s production manager Chris Bryant says: “One of the main reasons we invested in hyperMILL is because of the money. We were paying a subscription for our CAM software, and we wanted to pay a licence fee, so we started looking around and calculated that by make the switch we would save over £20,000 in three years.”

The financial savings should be enough to turn the head of any subcontract business, but particularly when the lower cost alternative can offer better performance. During the initial period of getting familiar with Open Mind’s hyperMILL, SRD Engineering felt the software was comparable to its previous system. However, once the subcontractor started to get more proficient with the software’s features, that perception changed.

“Now that the guys have got used to hyperMILL and gone through a transition period, it’s definitely better,” says Bryant. “Another reason we invested in hyperMILL is that our customers use it, which is really good for us, especially if we want to discuss any particular projects or similarities in the parts that we’re making. It helps us in supporting our customers.”

With regard to productivity gains from hyperMILL, Bryant says: “Since we’ve been using hyperMILL, we have optimised our run cycles and there’s a lot less ‘air cutting’. Additionally, some of our finishing cycles are much faster. We have one job that we were previously running at 45 minutes per part, which is now down to 30 minutes. For this component, we produce around 60 a year, thus giving us a saving of around 15 hours.”

This 30% cycle time saving is magnified throughout the business, especially when considering that SRD has five five-axis machines from DMG Mori and multi-pallet machining centres like the Matsuura HPlus-300. The 80-employee business manufactures over 1000 five-axis parts each month, and the savings on these complex components has been impressive.

“We have one motorsport part that was produced in a batch of over 130 components, and the cycle time was over 3 hours per part. By re-programming this job with hyperMILL, we’ve reduced the cycle time by 45 minutes per component, saving us over 100 hours of machining on just one job. We also have another part that we are producing at present for electrical testing machines. Here, hyperMILL has reduced the cycle time on a batch of 40 components from 10 hours to 5 hours per part – a 50% reduction.”

Since investing in Open Mind’s hyperMILL CAM software last year, SRD Engineering has rapidly ramped up to nine seats of the package, with many of the shop-floor operators programming their components online at the machine.

“By programming at the machine, operators take responsibility for following each job from the start to the end of the process,” states Bryant. “With often lengthy cycle times on complex parts, the operators can identify and eradicate any potential issues on the machine. For long-running parts, our team can also program the next job while the machine is running. One feature in hyperMILL that has saved us a lot of time is the pocket milling feature. It can machine straight and inclined pockets with any contour, and with automatic recognition of islands and rest material areas. Open and closed pockets can also be machined easily when using the pocket milling strategy.”

“The support from Open Mind has been incredible,” he adds. “Unfortunately, we made the change during the Covid-19 pandemic, so that didn’t help with things, but the support and online training has been very good. We even had specialist meetings using Microsoft Teams, so if we had any queries the development engineers at Open Mind would look into it and try and make the processes better for our programmers. The Open Mind team are customer-led in their development of the product to stay ahead of the curve. They want to have the best product out there and the best way to do that is by speaking to the customers and developing the product in partnership.”

SRD Engineering has also invested in some three-axis and four-axis machines, and will be running hyperMILL on those machines in the near future too.
“We really want hyperMILL used on as many machines as possible because of the capability it gives us,” concludes Bryant. “We have no regrets from making the switch; we are saving money, the machines are producing parts quicker than ever before and the surface finishes and overall quality have also improved.”

For further information
www.openmind-tech.com

Smithstown Light Engineering, based in Shannon, Ireland, has invested in a Trumpf TruPrint 2000 3D printing system to further enhance its support for the country’s burgeoning medical device industry. The first machine of its type in Ireland, the TruPrint 2000 is now busy producing prototypes and samples for a variety of customers in 17-4 and 316 stainless steel.

Founded in 1974, Smithstown Light Engineering started out with a workforce of four skilled toolmakers. During the early 1990s, the company moved towards specialising in medical device manufacturing and never looked back. Today, Smithstown employs 141 people across three sites, two in Ireland and one in Poland, focusing on the provision of precision-engineered medical device and orthopaedic instrument/implant solutions, typically for hip and knee replacement procedures and cardiovascular delivery devices.

Already offering a range of manufacturing capabilities, including milling, turning, grinding and EDM, Smithstown was keen to add 3D printing to its repertoire, and set about creating an Additive Centre within a recently constructed 30,000 sq ft extension.

“We worked for two years with IMR [Irish Manufacturing Research], a technology and research organisation, to experience 3D printing and get a feel for what it could do in terms of its capabilities, limitations, advantages and disadvantages,” explains managing director Gerard King.

The aim was to provide an additive support role for Smithstown’s medical device customers, specifically with regard to R&D work.

“We looked at many potential machines, before designing our own benchmark and sending it to suppliers of interest,” says Kevin Kelly, manufacturing engineer. “It was the quality of the benchmark produced by Trumpf, using their TruPrint 2000, which caught our attention. In addition, the volume of the machine was perfect for our needs and the price was competitive.”

Smithstown is already using its new TruPrint 2000 to produce printed parts from metal. The company’s new Additive Centre also houses a machine for printing polymer components.

“Additive is ideal for medical work because of the complex geometries involved,” says Kelly. “Without 3D printing, several processes would be required, taking many hours. Additive also offers the potential for individual customisation, which has obvious benefits for products such as implants.”

Since installation, the machine has been busy producing prototypes and samples for medical device customers in 17-4 and 316 stainless steel.

“In the medical sector it can take years to move from the design and test stage, to validated production, but we’re now in a position to help expedite this process and bring customer ideas to life,” explains Kelly. “Upon reaching the production phase of current projects we could well need several 3D printing systems so that we can dedicate machines to a single material. We will not hesitate to invest in more machines if the demand is there.”

With its small 55 µm diameter laser beam, the TruPrint 2000 provides a high-quality printing result that impresses with its surface quality and level of detail. Two Trumpf 300 W fibre lasers deliver high productivity over the entire cylindrical build volume of 200 mm diameter by 200 mm high.

The TruPrint 2000 also enables the industrial processing of amorphous metals. These metals feature exceptional strength combined with high elasticity, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. Wall thicknesses can then be reduced and bionic structures used in component design, resulting in lower component weight and shorter production time.

Among notable options that help to ensure the highest quality standards is melt pool monitoring. With this function, deviations in the laser metal fusion process are detectable early via sensors, and critical areas of the component can be visualised. Users can also monitor all weld pools in parallel.

Moving forward, Smithstown’s business strategy is to focus more on high-volume precision components, rather than simply tooling and small-batch parts.

“Some of our competitors have 3D printers, but the TruPrint 2000 definitely gives us an edge,” says Kelly. “Furthermore, we have a dedicated team of experts who can design parts specifically to leverage the benefits of additive manufacturing, thus helping to minimise costs without compromising quality. Designing a part for additive is quite different to designing a part for traditional machining.”

Smithstown – which carries certifications that include ISO9001 (quality), ISO13485 (medical devices) and ISO14001 (environmental) – has recently secured several new projects that are driving the need for more staff recruitment. Alongside its investment in the latest manufacturing technologies, ongoing growth is assured at this forward-thinking business.

“We’re really happy with the quality and build speed of the TruPrint 2000, which is backed-up with good support from Trumpf – they’ve listened to our needs throughout,” concludes King. “As a result, we’ve not experienced any unexpected issues whatsoever, which is impressive considering this is our first venture into additive manufacturing.”

Trumpf will demonstrate its 3D printing systems at TCT3Sixty (28-30 September, Birmingham NEC). Visitors to stand F28 will see how 3D printing systems are shaping the future of manufacturing technology. Trumpf offers both relevant laser technologies for additive manufacturing from a single source: laser metal fusion (LMF) and laser metal deposition (LMD). Different industries and components have varied requirements, which is why Trumpf offers such flexible production solutions. New to the range is the TruPrint 3000 3D printing system, where the company says that production set-up is easily adapted to the requirements of the customer or application.

For further information
www.trumpf.com

Father and son team Andy and Owen Phillips, both of whom are pilots and aviation engineering enthusiasts, started a subcontract machining business in Havant in 1994. After four years, they applied their extensive knowledge acquired over many years of building and flying aircraft to transition their firm, Andair, into a manufacturer of fuel system components for light aircraft in the sport, amateur-build and commercial aviation sectors.

The QAS International and ISO9001-certified business is now a global producer of such equipment, with 90% of its fuel selectors, filters, check valves, gascolators and fuel pumps going to export markets. Regular customers include Cessna, Cirrus, Czech Sport Aircraft, Diamond, Grob, Grumman-Northrop, Rotax/Bombardier, Scaled Composites, Technam and Vans.

Miyano fixed-head, twin-spindle CNC lathes from Citizen Machinery UK have underpinned the production of Andair’s turned and milled parts since January 2005, when the first turning centre with sub spindle arrived at the Havant factory: a five-axis BND-42S. The machine proved so efficient that a second, identical model took its place on the shop floor six weeks later. Fast-forward 16 years and the company has bought a total of seven Miyanos, the latest being the first 80 mm bar capacity ABX lathe to be installed in the UK. The ABX arrived in June 2020, equipped with an Iemca KID 80 short bar magazine.

Andair had been waiting eagerly for the launch of the 80 mm version of this twin-spindle machine with two Y-axis turrets, having since 2015 been producing 3-inch and 2.75-inch diameter components from billet held in a Hainbuch chuck in the main spindle of a smaller ABX-64SYY, of which there are two at the Havant factory. The high requirement for components of this size meant that the lathes were performing chuck work 60% of the time.

Says Owen Phillips: “The production efficiency of our larger parts used to be lower because we could only manufacture a limited number of components from a billet, say five or perhaps seven. In the case of the aluminium body for an oil-air separator we are currently machining, we could only produce one per billet. Now we can machine all these parts from bar using the 80 mm capacity lathe, saving a lot of time. It runs continuously throughout the day and, although we are not set up for 24/7 operation at present, with this machine and our other Miyano bar autos it is feasible in the future.”

The other lathes in the factory all have twin turrets and Phillips had ordered a similar specification for the 80 mm model. Due to the cancellation of the MACH 2020 machine tool exhibition, however, Citizen Machinery had in stock a triple-turret ABX-80THY 12-axis model with a Fanuc control system that it had intended to launch at the show. Owen was initially hesitant, having never used a lathe of that configuration before, but decided to buy it anyway as it was available immediately. The machine turned out to be a complete revelation.

“I would not buy another twin-turret machine in future, because having three turrets is so much more productive,” states Phillips. “I would like a four-turret version if Miyano made one.”

He adds: “It’s no problem to transfer work to the more complex lathe, as a new program can be checked easily using the manual retrace function in the control, avoiding any possibility of interference between tool and workpiece.”

Phillips explains that the two turrets positioned above the spindle centreline, each with 12 live stations, work at the main and counter spindles respectively. The third turret is located below and has unrestricted travel to operate at either spindle, thus providing flexibility for balancing front and reverse-end machining. Three tools can be in cut simultaneously to achieve very high levels of machining efficiency.

So far, the company has produced around 60 different parts on its new lathe, all from 3-inch diameter bar. In fact, in one instance where a customer required a large valve machined from a 4.5-inch diameter billet, Owen turned the end of it down to 80 mm to allow machining in the collet.

In the case of the oil-air separator body, it is now possible to machine five from bar in 30 minutes whereas before, with an operator loading billets manually into the chuck of an ABX-64SYY, it took at least 45 minutes to achieve the same output. In other words, productivity is up by more than 50%. A further benefit to Andair is that the two 64 mm bar lathes can now be devoted to collet work, as per the original intention.

Another example of where the 80 mm bar machine has introduced benefits is when machining one of the few Andair components that the pilot actually sees, a fuel selector fascia plate. This aluminium part requires a very high level of surface finish, necessitating the use of a diamond-tipped tool. Engraving is also necessary to indicate tank selection. Previously, after turning the part from a billet, a second operation was required on a machining centre to mill material from the reverse and drill four holes.

Today, however, milling and drilling – as well as turning – are carried out from bar on the Miyano, leaving only a small operation to clean the bore on a separate machine. Cycle time is now at least two minutes less, while one operation has been eliminated.

In the case of another component, in fact the first that Andair made on the ABX-80THY, all three turrets had almost an identical amount of work to perform. Cycle time is 2 minutes 15 seconds, including parting-off and the component comes off finished, whereas previously the cycle was 4 minutes. Plus there was the need for a second operation, requiring extra time for both metal cutting and inter-machine handling.

Aluminium accounts for three quarters of throughput at the Havant factory, with a wide range of other materials also machined, including brass, bronze, plastics, tool steel and stainless steel. Batch sizes are relatively low, normally between 100- and 500-off, so there is a lot of machine preparation.

The Miyanos are quick to set up however, as they have built-in tool setters and program preparation takes place offline using an Esprit CAM system. Typical tolerances are in the realm of ±0.02 mm. Phillips reveals that any occasional out-of-tolerance parts are always the fault of the tool, as the machines do not move.

For further information
www.citizenmachinery.co.uk