Summary
- Profile Type
- Technology offer
- POD Reference
- TODE20240430017
- Term of Validity
- 30 April 2024 - 30 April 2025
- Company's Country
- Germany
- Type of partnership
- Investment agreement
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
- Targeted Countries
- All countries
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General information
- Short Summary
- A German university has developed a robot-based additive 6D manufacturing process to produce complex multi-material components. The device consists of an actuator unit that can move in six degrees of freedom. Thanks to the 6D freedom of movement, the device can be moved, rotated, and tilted in all spatial directions. The University is looking for cooperation partners, licensee and/or investors to further develop the new technology to series maturity.
- Full Description
-
In recent years, additive manufacturing has undergone an impressive transformation and has developed into a disruptive technology. With its ability to reduce costs, customise, speed up product development and focus on sustainability, 3D printing has gained significant traction.
The quality of additively manufactured objects depends heavily on the manufacturing technology used, the material used and the complexity of the component to be produced. For example, the layer-by-layer production of curved components often leads to step artefacts, which are visually disturbing and often structurally disadvantageous. Another problem is that with known additive manufacturing processes, the print paths are often not planned to suit the component, e.g. to increase the local strength in certain areas of the component or to combine different materials (e.g. integration of fibres).
Scientists at a German university have developed a robot-based additive 6D manufacturing process to produce complex multi-material components. The device consists of an actuator unit that can move in six degrees of freedom. Thanks to the 6D freedom of movement, the device can be moved, rotated and tilted in all spatial directions. Thanks to this high degree of freedom of movement, the device can follow the three-dimensional contour in space, particularly with curved components, and change the print path in the z-direction accordingly.
By using different extruders or print heads, different materials can also be used so that multi-material components are possible. The integration of electrical or optical conductors can open new applications and possible uses, or the components can become ‘intelligent’, e.g. through fault detection, electrical conductivity or heatable 3D printing materials.
By using an intelligent control system, strain properties, mechanical strength (force conduction and tensile/compression direction), surface quality, electrical properties or conductivity and optical properties (e.g. refractive index) of the component can be considered when aligning and aligning the layers to be applied.
This robot-supported additive 6D manufacturing process can be used for the near-contour production of complex structural components with the integration of fibres or conductor paths. - Advantages and Innovations
-
Advantages of the innovation are:
• Maximum flexibility thanks to manoeuvrability in six
• degrees of freedom
• Printing of significantly more complex components without
• support structures possible
• Multi-material components can be easily realised
• Significant increase in strength and stress resistance
• Close-contour printing along the 3D shape of the object
• No step artefacts
• Integration of continuous fibres, electrical or optical optical conductors (in several layers)
Fields of application:
Structural and bending-loaded components, functional components with electrical, optical properties, free-form components - Stage of Development
- Available for demonstration
- Sustainable Development Goals
- Goal 17: Partnerships to achieve the Goal
- Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
- IPR status
- IPR granted
- IPR notes
- European unitary patent and patent in the UK
Partner Sought
- Expected Role of a Partner
- For the market launch of this 6D manufacturing process, the university is looking for partners from industry, license holders and/or investors who manufacture and/or distribute high-quality 3D printers.
- Type and Size of Partner
- Other
- SME 50 - 249
- Big company
- SME 11-49
- SME <=10
- Type of partnership
- Investment agreement
- Research and development cooperation agreement
- Commercial agreement with technical assistance
Dissemination
- Technology keywords
- 02002005 - Forming (rolling, forging, pressing, drawing)
- 02006002 - Construction methods and equipment
- 02007005 - Composite materials
- 02002009 - Machine Tools
- Market keywords
- 08003001 - Machine tools, other metal working equipment (excl. numeric control)
- 08002004 - Robotics
- 08002005 - Machine vision software and systems
- 08002006 - Numeric and computerised control of machine tools
- Targeted countries
- All countries
Files
Images_FDM 3D-Printing.pdf