Reducing metal 3D printing costs for manufacturers

Additive manufacturing (AM) – also known as 3D printing – is increasingly being used to produce strong, complex, custom parts made of metal.

But due to the high costs of metal powders and the machine tools required to print them, the metal 3D printing process is currently largely limited to low-volume parts.

A seven-year partnership between the University of Waterloo’s Multi-Scale Additive Manufacturing Laboratory (MSAM) and the National Research Council (NRC) is aiming to reduce the cost of metal additive manufacturing for manufacturers.

This episode of Machine Language features an interview with Mihaela Vlasea, an assistant professor at the MSAM, and Diana Facchini, team leader at the NRC’s new facility in Mississauga, Ont., who discuss the collaboration and walk through the challenges and benefits of production with 3D printing.

Listen to the full episode here.

Each episode of Machine Language is available for free on Manufacturing AUTOMATION’s website and on Annex Business Media’s SoundCloud and iTunes accounts.

If you have an idea for a podcast episode, email Kristina Urquhart at kurquhart@annexbusinessmedia.com.