Mimo Technik and Astro named lead fabrication and testing resources for developing Laser Powder Bed Fusion sets

Dyndrite, providers of the GPU-accelerated computation engine used to create next-generation digital manufacturing hardware and software, along with Materials Consortium members Constellium, Elementum3D, and Sandvik selected Mimo Technik and Astro Mechanical Testing Laboratory as lead fabrication and testing partner for developing open Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) parameter sets for consortium member materials in the USA. The consortium will leverage the company’s MASTRO method and Dyndrite software to speed development and delivery.

The AM Materials Consortium, founded by Dyndrite, along with Constellium, a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high value-added aluminum products and solutions, including Aheadd Aluminum Powders such as CP1 for Additive Manufacturing, Elementum 3D, providers of innovative gas atomized aluminum alloy additive manufacturing feedstock powders, and Sandvik a global, high-tech engineering group providing solutions that enhance productivity, profitability and sustainability for the manufacturing, mining and infrastructure industries, is charted with making common (LPBF) powder parameters and related testing data freely available to end users - enabling increased knowledge sharing, better outcomes, and faster adoption of AM machines, materials and techniques.

The Materials Consortium will hold its first public event the day before the start of RapidTCT on June 24, 2024 from 6 PM to 9 PM at MIMO Technik’s headquarters in Los Angeles, CA. Parties interested in attending can request an invitation here.

Mimo Technik and Astro have spent the last two years developing the “MASTRO AM-MCQP-2024: Additive Material Characterization and Qualification Protocol for Production Readiness”, a process for streamlining qualification efforts for the additive industry. The hyperfast qualification process involves iterative experiments to determine values for all variables that influence the metal printing process. These parameters are then stored in Dyndrite Build Recipes for usage. The platform consists of standardized and shareable MASTRO Dyndrite build recipes, which are used for parameter development and the ASTRO testing process. MASTRO-qualified materials are now in production for fracture-critical hardware such as landing gear, propulsion systems, payload structures, and defense applications. The MASTRO Dyndrite process is the foundation of this protocol and can be explored here: www.mastro.vision.

Historically, materials and process development has been a long, costly, and labor-intensive process. The Consortium aims to disrupt this tradition and provide for a more streamlined and cost-effective future for qualifying additive manufacturing materials and processes for LPBF machines.

“A lack of known, well-tested, and flexible printing parameter sets is slowing adoption of additive manufacturing” says Ravi Shahani PhD, Additive Manufacturing Chief Engineer, Constellium. “Metal 3D users are either limited by materials offered by their OEM or waste an inordinate amount of time and resources developing, and requalifying parameter sets, often starting from scratch each time. Working with Dyndrite and MASTRO users can now leverage the transparency of publicly available, tested parameter sets, upon which to build.”

"The team at Elementum 3D has appreciated Dyndrite's partnership in co-developing parameter sets for our robust material set.  We believe the partnership we have with Dyndrite and the rest of the AM Materials Consortium members will lead to continued success of developing faster, more reliable parameter sets for materials of the future with production success in mind."

"Sandvik has been producing metal powders for 45 years and LPBF powders for over 20 years, offering the widest selection of alloy powders,” says Luke Harris, Sales Director for Sandvik's metal powder business. “Working with our consortium partners, we can democratize AM knowledge, accelerate technology adoption, and drive industry innovation.”

Dyndrite LPBF Pro, a GPU-powered 3D application brings tremendous power and control to the additive CAM and materials and process development process. Engineers can now develop sophisticated and repeatable toolpathing and manufacturing processes. It offers advanced tools for process development, including 3D geometric queries to detect and optimize print parameters for difficult to print geometric features such as domes, cantilevers, and thin walls. Users can also speed build rates, expand available materials, improve part quality, and deploy support-free print strategies. The software supports 3D metal printers, including Aconity 3D, EOS, NikonSLM, Renishaw, and more.

“We’ve enjoyed working with Mimo Technik and Astro Testing in applying Dyndrite LPBF Pro to the previously manual and laborious world of parameter development,” says Steve Walton, Head of Product at Dyndrite. “In powering the MASTRO process we speed the delivery of public metal 3D printing parameter sets to market, opening new opportunities for companies leveraging metal 3D printing for rocketry, aerospace, automotive and numerous other uses. We look forward to working with our materials partners to bring many open parameter sets to market.”

“Dyndrite has been the perfect partner to address the complexities of collecting significant data for understanding manufacturing with novel superalloys,” says Jonathan Cohen, CEO & Co-founder of Mimo Technik. “The journey of bringing a new material into the AM process is fraught with challenges. Recognizing this, our teams embarked on demystifying the process, ensuring that the standardization of testing and data collection, following the development of parameter sets, is straightforward and unambiguous.”

“Our goal was clear from the outset: to streamline the process for organizations to onboard new materials and become production-ready on their machines sooner,” says Humna Khan, CEO and Co-founder of Astro. “We aim to reduce the iterative process traditionally associated with material qualification, lowering both the time to market and the cost of introducing new parts. By establishing a clear, standardized framework for material characterization and qualification, we are not just facilitating a smoother entry to market but also fostering confidence in the parts produced through AM.”