Meeting with MX3D, expert in 3D Waam printing technology

MX3D est une jeune entreprise qui s’est spécialisée dans l’impression 3D métal robotisée. Fondée en 2014, la société basée à Amsterdam a fait la une des journaux avec ses projets ambitieux, notamment grâce à son pont piétonnier en acier inoxydable imprimé en 3D au cœur d’Amsterdam. MX3D est active dans la fabrication additive pour le secteur de l’industrie lourde, mais est également sollicitée par divers concepteurs pour créer des structures complexes, pratiques mais esthétiques, en utilisant la technologie d’impression 3D WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing). Nous avons souhaité en savoir plus sur MX3D et ses projets et sommes allés à la rencontre de Thomas Van Glabeke, ingénieur R&D et développeur commercial pour la société.

3DN: Can you introduce yourself as well as the MX3D company?

Bonjour, je m’appelle Thomas Van Glabeke et je travaille en tant qu’ingénieur R&D et développeur commercial chez MX3D.Throughout my day, I analyze various geometries of different industries and I wonder how we could have them printed in 3D at MX3D.

MX3D is a metal 3D 3D printing company that uses the additive manufacturing process Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing, better known its subronym Waam.It is a material deposit process that has three basic elements: an industrial robot, a soldering machine and software (Metalxl) which connects it and transforms it into a 3D metal printer.It is very similar to robotic welding, but instead of placing only a few welds, large three -size objects are printed by continuously stacking the welds on each other.MX3D prints in almost all the metals available in the form of a welding wire and our objects range from the size of a football ball to that of a car.

3DN: How did the adventure started?

A little less than ten years ago, the Joris Laarman Lab team desired to print larger 3D objects than the existing 3D printers printing set.They wanted to print functional and large objects.Experiences on various materials have been carried out with an old industrial robot.As soon as the team hung a soldering machine, the potential of this technology appeared clearly.In 2014, this research project officially left the laboratory and became the startup MX3D.

Our first major project was the MX3D bridge, a stainless steel pedestrian bridge printed in fully functional 3D 12 meters long, designed for the city center of Amsterdam.The bridge has around 6,000 kg of 3D printed stainless steel and was printed by 4 industrial robots in our workshop.

3DN: What are the additive manufacturing applications in which MX3D is involved?

MX3D has printed large -scale metal objects for more than 5 years and during this period, we have been approached by many different industries, ranging from construction and architecture/design to maritime, oil and gas industry and gas and gas industryOther heavy industries.

For the construction industry, we print optimized structures and nodes that have an increased performance/weight ratio.A remarkable interdisciplinary project was our structural connector in Takenaka Waam steel.It is an architectural node which is half hollow in steel by an industrial robot MX3D and sunk in concrete by a Takenaka industrial robot.Thanks to a generative design and advanced printing techniques, the geometry of the connector uses both the advantages of steel and concrete.

For heavy industries, we print almost clear pieces which are then partially or entirely used by CNC.The high rate of WAAM deposit and the accuracy of the CNC go hand in hand to reduce deadlines and allow very agile production processes.WAAM technology is for example used for pipe connectors for the petroleum and gas industry, tailor -made gears and components for large machines, hollow and solid propeller blades for maritime industry, etc..

Industrial customers contact us frequently, but designers also often question our technology in question.We have printed magnificent metal sculptures which required very complicated planning of tool paths and data processing.Shortly after, these code elements were used in an industrial profitability analysis.We have also developed a system to mix different alloys during the printing for a project by the Joris Laarman Lab, which has proven to be an innovative solution for industrial components requiring external hulls resistant to wear.

3DN: Can you tell us more about the MX3D Robot Arm, one of your last projects?

About a year ago, MX3D had printed several large -scale optimized metal objects for heavy industry, ranging from new parts to spare parts or old parts where the delivery time is very high. La plupart de ces demandes provenaient des départements de R&D de grandes multinationales et sont restées hors de portée du public en raison d’accords NDA.Have advanced technology to tackle these complicated forms and not being able to present it to the public seemed to be a waste.We then examined the parts of our own machines in the workshop, and the idea of our robots printing their own pieces quickly imposed itself.

ABB, one of the main suppliers of industrial robots, was interested in the concept and provided us with an old 2,000 -kilo industrial robot that needed to be rejuvenated.We then contacted Altair, a software company at the cutting edge of simulation and optimization, to see if it was interested in helping us in terms of engineering.In a few weeks, we reimagined the lower arm of the large robot.We started by dismantling the robot, then we carried out retro-engineering, optimization, printing and finally the finish of the room.Due to the COVVI-19 epidemic, the project was temporarily interrupted, but in July 2020, we finalized it by installing the Waam part in the old robot.

There is a lot to say about the characteristics and applications of the combination of digital simulation and large -scale additive manufacturing.With regard to simulation, Altair engineers were able to reduce the mass of the part by 50% while retaining the functional requirements and the printability of the part.They brought optimization to another level by reproducing the model in a digital environment, that is to say the "digital twin", and simulated all movements, speeds, accelerations and couples and the way it influencesAll components of the whole system.This complete vision allows you to make precise settings in terms of manufacturing, precision, energy consumption and any other variable that you have in mind.

On the WAAM technology side, we are studying a computer control process with a high production rate.Mass customization is now very accessible for large metal parts.The flexibility of the waam allows you to reconfigure the part each time you print it.A robot arm can have a wide range for a specific use case, the following can present different mounting options for external equipment, and another can be branched in two tool holders, etc..By combining this with other optimizations, the maximum robot load capacity can be increased, the equipment requirements for engines can be reduced, annual energy consumption can be lowered, etc..Our WAAM technology allows you to use many other advantages.

3DN: Why did you launch Metalxl software?

When we started working with large -scale metal printing, we realized that there was no good Waam software on the market.The existing options generally obliged the user to link different pieces of software between them, which had not been developed by thinking of WAAM at the start.In addition, several key parameters of Waam were complex - there were spare solutions but sometimes these software did not offer them at all, which was translated into poor quality prints.

This is why MX3D began to build everything from A to Z, devoting itself specifically to waam.We have used our Waam software for 5 years in our production factory, and we now make it available to the public under the name of Metalxl.This is a dedicated waam platform that provides you with the tools you need to go from CAD design to the printed part.It helps you cut out the object, generate the tool course, solve the reverse kinematics for industrial robots, monitor and control the process, provide printing information, and much more.Like many industries have their own processes, materials and certification requirements, Metalxl allows our customers to calibrate and record their own materials and processes, in order to facilitate their certification processes and the integration of WAAM intheir production chain.This makes Metalxl very flexible software while guaranteeing a controlled printing process and quality printing for 3D metal printing.

3DN: What is your vision of the 3D metal printing market?

Interest in metal additive manufacturing, and in particular for DED technologies (Direct Energy Deposition) like Waam, grows very quickly.Researchers, universities, SMEs but also large companies want to get into large -scale metal printing.In addition, there is an increasing need for integration and certification of metal additive manufacturing in the production chain.

For these reasons, MX3D is very involved in accelerating the adoption of 3D Metal printing in the industry.We are involved in the "Integodde" program, a consortium of 26 partners across Europe, which works on an intelligent value -based value chain for the manufacture of certified metal parts.In addition, MX3D is part of the Robotunion acceleration program, as part of which we develop our Metalxl software so that it can work with more brands of robots and welding machines.With these developments, we aim to accelerate the adoption and integration of WAAM in the production chain.I think that more and more DED processes will be certified, which will result in very agile controlled production environments and strong growth in use cases/real applications.Companies using these processes will be able to quickly provide the industry with a wide range of objects in different alloys.Do not hesitate to go see our site to find out more!

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