Science Forum records highest number of submissions in the 20-year history of Rapid.Tech 3D

Rapid.Tech 3D has further increased its appeal. This is reflected in the interest shown by speakers for the Science Forum. With 38 contributions, it has recorded the highest number of submissions in the 20-year history of the renowned AM trade event.

New partnerships have contributed to the further increase in attractiveness. “With the Springer Nature Journal “Progress in Additive Manufacturing” and the RTe Journal, we were able to gain two renowned international publication partners, which will give the scientific contributions even greater reach. These new publication channels were a strong motivation to apply for one of the 14 presentation slots in the Science Forum,” says Dr. Stefan Kleszczynski, Head of the Chair of Manufacturing Technology at the Institute of Product Engineering at the University of Duisburg-Essen. The member of the Rapid.Tech 3D Advisory Board is responsible for the content and review process of the forum, which will take place on May 14 and 15, 2024.

Poster session on the opening evening

The selection process demonstrates the high quality of the submitted papers. “After the double-blind assessment by the review committee, 30 papers were still in the running. In a second step, we had these evaluated by the external reviewers according to their degree of innovation on a scale of 1 to 6 and finally selected the 14 best and most innovative contributions for a presentation,” Dr. Kleszczynski explains the procedure The 16 other positively evaluated papers will nevertheless be given a presentation in Erfurt. “One advantage of Rapid.Tech 3D is that there is a trade exhibition alongside the congress. As both the exhibition and the congress have always been an established meeting place for the additive manufacturing specialist community, the idea was born to present the other scientific contributions in a poster session. This will take place on the evening of May 14 in parallel with a networking event at the trade fair and will offer the specialist audience a great opportunity to discuss current research topics in the field of additive manufacturing,” adds Dr. Kleszczynski.

First steps towards additive manufacturing on the moon

The presentations at the two-day science forum will deal with process innovations in powder-bed-based metal melting (PBF-LB/M), new materials for metal and plastic 3D printing, new developments for surface treatment, thermal modeling in metal 3D printing and innovations in the field of WAAM processes (arc deposition welding).
Tjorben Griemsmann’s presentation will take a look from Earth to space. The research associate at the Laserzentrum Hannover will be turning his attention to additive manufacturing on the moon. Lunar dust could be a suitable material for processing with powder-based additive manufacturing technologies in order to build a lunar infrastructure with locally available materials. However, the AM process must be adapted to the atmosphere of the Earth’s satellite. Tjorben Griemsmann presents initial processing tests of moon rock and similar material in a vacuum.

New alloy for medical technology

Hanna Schönrath from the University of Duisburg-Essen is investigating the additive manufacturing process of a novel, amorphously solidifying titanium-based alloy. The material and process are considered promising for use in medical devices.
The presentation by Samuel Schlicht from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg demonstrates for the first time the production of polypropylene components at room temperature using selective laser beam melting without the need for support structures or high ambient temperatures.

Developments for higher surface quality and efficient heat management

Metallic glasses combine two contradictory properties: they are extremely strong and at the same time highly elastic. Dr. Jan Wegner from the University of Duisburg-Essen reports on how they can be additively manufactured to an almost polished surface quality without post-processing.
Paul Oehlmann from BMW will be presenting a new test geometry to enable digital surface roughness measurements on an industrial scale.
Christoph Behrens from the University of Bremen presents a simulation-based thermal management model for 3D-printed metal parts.

Camera-based measurement and control in WAAM processes

Hannes Zapf from the Fraunhofer IAPT is investigating the influence of arc oscillation frequencies on the surface of titanium-based components manufactured using WAAM. The specific energy consumption can be reduced by using high oscillation frequencies.
In additive manufacturing with wire arc, the distance between the welding torch and the component has a noticeable influence on the component quality. In his presentation, Moritz Baldauf from BMW will show how the geometric dimensional accuracy of components and the manufacturing process can be improved with camera-based measurement and control of the distance.

Congress with eight industry and science forums

In addition to the Science Forum on May 14 and 15, 2024, other forums at the Rapid.Tech 3D Congress will offer insights into the latest AM developments and applications. On the first day of the event (14 May 2024), the AM4industry format organized by the VDMA Additive Manufacturing Working Group will be held for the first time, and the established Aerospace Forum will also take place. On the second day, the Chemical and Process Engineering Forum – presented by DECHEMA, the Software, AI & Design Forum and the Innovations in AM Forum will be held. This forum will be continued on the following day (May 16, 2024). The Mobility and AM Science by Fraunhofer forums will also take place on this final day.