Successful testing for large-scale additive manufacturing program

US-based manufacturer of CNC routers, Thermwood Corporation, said that its development system performed well during initial additive testing through its entire operating range. The company has tapped American Kuhne after Thermwood announced in July that it's implementing a large-scale additive manufacturing (LSAM) program,

For Thermwood’s development system, Amercan Kuhne supplied a 1 ¾ inch extruder custom-engineered for this application.  The demanding application was met by the extruder during the initial testing. Thermwood expects to fit this initial test machine, which can print parts up to ten foot by ten foot by five foot thick, with a five axis ‘subtractive’ gantry trim system in the next few months to  enable the system to perform both the ‘additive’ and ‘subtractive’ functions on the same machine. Called ‘near net shape’, the approach uses a high volume thermoplastic printer to quickly create a part that is nearly, but not exactly, the final net shape. The ‘subtractive’ function then machines the part to the exact final net shape.

Testing included initial validation of the new ‘MeltShape Technology’ for enhanced control of layer shape and improved bonding between layers. This is a new technique in the advancement of LSAM. The patent-pending approach uses one or more shaping wheels to shape, form and compress the hot plastic melt as it is being extruded, to ensure that each new layer has the proper shape and thickness, and that it bonds firmly to previously applied material.

Thermwood aims to continue pursuing development effort with the goal of offering these machines in a variety of large sizes for commercial applications, especially for the production of aerospace patterns and molds.