FDM 3D Printing
Our Markforged FDM 3D printer is a key flexibility tool within Newby RapidCast. FDM is an additive manufacturing technology, and stands for “Fused Deposition Modelling”. Molten plastic is extruded through a computer-controlled nozzle to build components layer-by-layer, which gives our engineers a lot of geometric freedom. It is also often faster than traditional manufacturing processes.
FDM printing is often limited by the strength of printed parts, but by printing in carbon-fiber-reinforced nylon, with the option of additional continuous fiber reinforcement, the Markforged X7 is able to produce parts of comparable strength to aluminium. This allows us to manufacture strong clamping tools with complex freeform geometry for our in-house machine shop in a matter of hours.
To help shorten lead times, 3D printing can help us get ahead on machining setup by printing 1:1 models of new castings. This enables our machine shop to begin the fixturing process before castings have been made, so no time is wasted on the front end of this process.
Plastic 3D printing can also be used to make small airset patterns and coreboxes for prototype castings, filling the cost gap between 3D sand printing and traditional patternmaking. FDM printed patterns can last upwards of 50 moulding cycles without significant wear.