Pushing the Limits of Speed: Breakthroughs in High-Velocity 3D Printing

Additive manufacturing (AM), commonly known as 3D printing, has vast potential for rapid prototyping and on-demand production if object build speeds can be made quicker. Accelerating 3D printing processes is a key focus area for researchers across the industry.

Hardware Innovations

New machine designs and configurations provide more velocity and efficiency.

  • Multi-Beam and Multi-Laser Systems - State-of-the-art 3D printers are incorporating multiple lasers and electron beam emitters to simultaneously fuse and process material layers at unmatched speeds. For example, Aurora Labs' RMP-1 printer uses 9 280W lasers to achieve printing velocities up to 1m/s.

  • Larger Format Build Volumes - Massive print beds and build envelopes in modern metal AM machines like the 9 m x 1.5 m x 1.5m GE Additive Concept Laser X line 3D printer allow for very high throughput and build rates given their ability to fabricate numerous large parts or sets of smaller parts in parallel.

  • High-Speed Material Deposition - Novel material deposition methods like area-based extrusion can accelerate material processing times. Combined with multi-nozzle print heads, ultra-fast material laydown for both build material and sacrificial supports is possible.

  • Integrated Automated Material Handling - Autonomous robotic systems for powder spreading and recoating between layers minimizes downtime in powder bed fusion machines, allowing near continuous high speed operation.

  • Multi-Gantry System Architectures - Configurations using independent print heads moving on multiple synchronized gantries above large-format beds removes single gantry limitations and increases production volumes.

  • Modular Build Modules - Companies like Apis Cor are creating 3D printer systems with detachable build modules that can begin printing the next object while the previous print finishes post-processing. This parallelization dramatically improves throughput.

Intelligent Machine Control Algorithms

Sophisticated software and precision motion control enables faster printing with consistency.

  • Laser and Light Modulation - In photopolymer VAT processes, laser power and patterns are intelligently modulated to reduce curing times per layer. Likewise, DLP and other projection systems can optimize illumination profiles throughout the build process.

  • Adaptive Slicing and Pathing - Given a specific geometry, software automatically optimizes the slicing and print toolpath to minimize transit speeds, eliminate wasteful motions, and reduce layer counts where feasible. This algorithmic approach shaves precious seconds.

  • Smart Energy and Thermal Management - Actively controlling preheating, cooling, and real-time energy profiles creates an optimal thermal state for the fastest possible material processing and solidification.

  • Reinforcement Learning Process Controls - AI-based systems leverage real-time data across the multi-physics processes to rapidly make informed adjustments that accelerate the print.

Cutting-Edge Processes and Materials

Researchers are pioneering novel rapid printing processes and materials.

  • Volumetric Printing - Breakthrough volumetric printing methods like holographic projection solidify entire 3D volumes in a material at once, removing traditional planar layer-based limits on speed.

  • High-Performance Reactive Polymers - Photosensitive resins and other polymers engineered for rapid reaction and cure times enable blazing fast vat photopolymerization processes.

  • Rapid Multi-Metal Processing - Innovations in powder metallurgy processes facilitate faster sintering and joining during printing across various reactive alloys.

  • Continuous Liquid Interface Production - CLIP leverages precisely controlled oxygen levels to continuously grow objects from a photopolymer resin pool up to 100x faster than conventional layer-by-layer 3D printing.

  • Hybrid Manufacturing - Combined printing and machining or other secondary processes create a highly productive workflow for rapid production.

With ongoing hardware, software, and materials science breakthroughs focused on speed, 3D printing is poised to radically transform manufacturing. The future possibilities for ultra-fast additive manufacturing at high volumes seem limitless.