Disrupting Manufacturing One Layer At A Time | Tim Simpson | TEDxPSU
The speaker argues that additive manufacturing is fundamentally changing design limitations by allowing complex material changes and geometries that traditional subtractive processes cannot achieve. He demonstrates this using examples like lightweighting automotive parts, creating bio-mimicking implants, and restoring vintage pocket watches. The core message is that design and manufacturing are now only limited by human imagination. ## Speakers & Context - Speaker: Expert on Additive Manufacturing. - Context: Presenting technical advancements in manufacturing. - Framing: Questioning whether the inherent shape of holes (like circles) is dictated by optimal nature or by historical manufacturing methods. ## Theses & Positions - Additive manufacturing is disrupting limitations imposed by traditional subtractive processes. - A key benefit is the ability to functionally grade material, integrating multiple properties (e.g., corrosion resistance, fatigue resistance) into a single component. - Complexity is "free" because the computer does not distinguish between printing a lattice structure or a solid structure. - The technology allows for the creation of internal passages impossible via traditional methods (e.g., oil and gas applications). - The capability makes manufacturing fun again, according to an anecdote from Chris Jost, president of Imperial machine and tool. - The primary benefit is that design and manufacturing are now only limited by human imagination. ## Concepts & Definitions - **Subtractive process:** Starting with a solid block of material and removing away unwanted material. - **Additive manufacturing:** Building objects layer by layer by depositing material. - **Functionally grading the material:** Integrating different properties (like corrosion or fatigue resistance) within a single component. - **Stair-stepping:** An issue where a shape (like a circle) is imperfectly round due to layer thicknesses, especially with early systems. - **Lattice structure / Cellular structure:** Patterns used to create lightweight components, sometimes mimicking bone. - **Lightweighting:** Reducing component weight while maintaining necessary structural integrity, accomplished using computer algorithms. - **Intellectual Property (IP):** Legal challenges surrounding the patentability of digital files (CAD files). - **Hype Cycle:** The predictable pattern of hype around new technologies, with the field currently appearing to be in the "trough of disillusionment" but moving toward the "slope of enlightenment." ## Mechanisms & Processes - **Additive Manufacturing (Powder Bed System):** Uses lasers or high energy sources to melt metal powder layer by layer to build objects. - **Electron Beam Process:** An alternative to a laser for powder metal processing, described as "robotic welding on steroids." - **X-ray/CT Scanning Process:** Placing a metal part in a machine to spin and X-ray it, allowing the stitching together of a three-dimensional representation (digital file). - **Anti-Counterfeiting Process:** Printing a component and using CT scanning to detect a non-visible, embedded material tag, confirming authenticity. - **Manufacturing Process Variation:** Comparison between dissolvable supports (used in polymers) and rigid support structures (used in titanium). ## Timeline & Sequence - **Historical Period:** The last hundred or so years is the timeframe associated with current methods of making circles and holes. - **Mid 80s:** Initial start time for 3D printing using plastic and polymer systems. - **Last five to ten years:** Timeframe when additive manufacturing took off with metals. - **Four or five years ago:** Timeframe when the speaker met Robert Cohen and his team regarding the hip implant. - **A couple months ago:** Timeframe when GE bought 3D printing companies. ## Named Entities - **Penn State:** Location where some lightweighting design work was performed. - **Saki:** Company based in Chicago that produces large parts. - **Cal Ram:** Service bureau located in the LA area. - **Pipeline Orthopedic:** Developed the first FDA-approved 3D printed titanium hip implant. ## Numbers & Data - **100:** Years the speaker suggests current methods of making circles and holes have been in use. - **30:** Years that the technology of 3D printing has been around. - **10 lbs:** Original estimated weight of a component before lightweighting. - **6 lbs:** Current weight of the lightweighted component. - **3 ft x 2 ft x 2 ft:** Dimensions of a large part made by Saki. - **8 ft x 8 ft x 20 ft:** Dimensions of the large system at Saki. - **15%:** Increase in efficiency of a heat exchanger at dissipating heat. - **2,000 percent:** Increase in job interest for 3D printing over the last five or six years, per Forbes. - **35%:** Percentage of all engineering jobs reportedly requiring 3D printing skills, per a foundation. - **1.5 billion dollars:** Amount GE spent to buy 3D printing companies. ## Examples & Cases - **Automotive Lightweight Component:** Designed by Vincent Moran and Todd Palmer for a formula race car, using computer algorithms to achieve material efficiency. - **Component Support Structures:** Example demonstrating necessary red and yellow support structures to fight gravity, warping, or curling when printing titanium. - **Lattice Component:** A lightweight structure that reduced a component's weight from ten pounds to about six pounds. - **Oil and Gas Component:** Illustration of internal passages created within a component via additive manufacturing, necessary for pumping fluids. - **Hip Implant:** The first FDA-approved 3D printed titanium hip implant, featuring a cellular structure that mimics bone. - **Heat Exchanger:** A 3D printed replica showing lattice structures and cooling fins, claimed to dissipate heat 15% more efficiently than a commercial version. - **Watch Case Restoration:** Using 3D printing (powder bed system with dual lasers) to manufacture new watch cases for old pocket watch movements, enabling custom orders. ## Tools, Tech & Products - **Lasers and high energy sources:** Used to melt powder for additive manufacturing. - **3D printers (Powder Bed System):** General technology for additive manufacturing. - **Electron beam:** Used to bombard and heat up/melt powder metal, described as "robotic welding on steroids." - **CT scanner/Computed Tomography:** Used to create a three-dimensional representation of metal parts via X-ray scanning; also used to detect internal tags. - **CAD file / Digital file:** The format used to send designs to a 3D printer. - **Multi material capabilities:** Allows changing material within a single component and embedding a detectable tag. ## Counterarguments & Caveats - Gravity remains a challenge, as it can cause printed material to sink or sag. - Support structures are necessary to fight warping or curling, requiring methods like dissolvable supports (polymers) or rigid supports (metals). - The current technology limitation is that design tools are not yet configured to handle changing geometry or material within a single component. - Manufacturing processes are susceptible to new types of attacks, making infrastructure potentially more vulnerable than traditional systems (energy, water, IT). ## Open Questions - The legal status of digital files: Whether patenting or intellectual property rights should shift towards copywriting laws (like the song industry) because a CAD file is hard to patent. - International component sourcing: Whether printing a part locally and emailing the file avoids customs duties or taxes. - Safety protocols: The necessary guidelines for handling fine metal particles from the process, as they can be hazardous or explosive. ## Conclusions & Recommendations - The key recommendation is the continued advancement of technology, moving past the hype cycle toward proven capability. - Educational efforts must scale up to meet industrial demands regarding skills training. - The speaker encourages embracing the current disruptive period, viewing it as a positive shift in capability. ## Verbatim Moments - *"I contend that it's because mainly this is how we've been making circles and holes for the past hundred or so years."* - *"one of the cool things that we couldn't make with any of our current technology that now we can do with additive manufacturing is actually change materials."* - *"Calling it additive because we are manufacturing final goods and products as I'll see and talked about there."* - *"The complexity is free because the computer doesn't care whether you're printing an intricate lattice structure... or whether you're printing a solid structure or you're integrating those two together."* - *"TheDepartment of Homeland Security last year showed that manufacturing infrastructure now is more open or more susceptible to breaches and cyber security issues than any other type of infrastructure that we have out there even energy water and IT systems."* - *"I can't get a patent on a CAD file or a digital file so what is this doing the IP and intellectual property do we need to move to copywriting in those sorts of things like we do in the song industry."* - *"time will only tell how long circles or holes will remain circular and in the meantime it's very exciting to think that design and manufacturing now is only limited by our imagination."*