International TechneGroup Limited (ITI) has recently made the successful conclusion of an EU additive manufacturing (AM) initiative where new developments in CADfix, ITIâs advanced geometry processing solution delivered key breakthroughs in AM geometry handling. The goal of the EU initiative, known as âHyprolineâ?, was to build a working demonstration of a high performance AM production line for small series metal parts.
The Hyproline platform promises to enhance the competitive position of Europeâs small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Program researchers mainly focused on three different metals: stainless steel 316L, titanium and copper and serial production of customized parts on the order of 10mm with a goal of 10,000 parts per day. âThe concept was initially focused on SMEs in the electronics and aerospace industries, but has potential application in other industries that produce low volume, high precision metal parts,â? stated Frits Feenstra, senior project manager, TNO. âWe are excited about further developing this manufacturing platform to enable fully-integrated mass production of customized 3D printed products.â?
ITIâs CADfix translation, repair and defeaturing solution was used to prepare CAD geometry for the additive manufacturing step for Hyproline, to convert the point cloud to the 3D surface and to compare the as-produced 3D object with the CAD model.
