Virtually every part that comes out of a 3D printer requires some form of post-processing, whether it\u2019s support removal, depowdering, or other finishing operations. As additive manufacturing transitions from prototyping to end-use production, post-processing had become one of the key bottlenecks to industrialization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Properly removing metal powder from printed parts is a particularly time-consuming process. Most post-processing tasks are manual processes requiring high investments in labor. That\u2019s not an issue with a small number of 3D-printed parts, but if you\u2019re producing thousands of them, the need for automation becomes paramount.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Siemens has collaborated with German powder removal solutions leader Solukon Maschinenbau GmbH<\/a> to solve this problem. The video below shows how the solution combines Siemens software knowledge with Solukon\u2019s post processing expertise into an SFM-AT800-S de-powdering system. Equipped with an intelligent algorithm, the machine rotates the part in a sequence derived from its CAD geometry to safely and thoroughly remove residual powder from even the most inaccessible areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<\/video><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAndreas Hartmann, CEO\/CTO at Solukon, explained: \u201cSiemens came and said, \u2018let\u2019s do a software that detects the internal channels of the part so that our machine moves exactly along a path, along the labyrinth\u2019. So, we changed the machine with two endless rotating axes to give more freedom for rotation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nAccording to Nick Turner, Project Manager at Material Solutions, a Siemens business, a huge portion of the company\u2019s 3D printing output are large-scale parts with internal cavities. Dealing at these volumes, there may be multiple parts placed on a single build plate and it\u2019s crucial that each is processed in the same way to ensure repeatability. The Solukon solution \u201chas given us a confidence in our process that wasn\u2019t present before. And that\u2019s something that we pass on to our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\nLast year, Solukon took home the award in the post-processing category at the 2019 TCT Magazine Awards ceremony for its intelligent de-powdering solution. Siemens is currently testing the Solukon solution in its AM facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nAbout the writer<\/strong>:Aaron Frankel<\/strong>\u00a0is Vice President of Siemens’ additive manufacturing software program. He has over 20 years of experience in the PLM software industry and has held various positions in engineering services, product management, and marketing \u2013 all focused on helping manufacturers take advantage of the latest digital design and manufacturing technology.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virtually every part that comes out of a 3D printer requires some form of post-processing, whether it\u2019s support removal, depowdering,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61920,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,114],"tags":[116,117,119,125,128],"industry":[],"product":[398],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-video","tag-3d-printing","tag-additive-manufacturing","tag-computer-aided-manufacturing-cam","tag-digital-twin","tag-industry-4-0","product-nx-additive-manufacturing"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/08\/AA-2-Depowdering.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Andreas Hartmann, CEO\/CTO at Solukon, explained: \u201cSiemens came and said, \u2018let\u2019s do a software that detects the internal channels of the part so that our machine moves exactly along a path, along the labyrinth\u2019. So, we changed the machine with two endless rotating axes to give more freedom for rotation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Nick Turner, Project Manager at Material Solutions, a Siemens business, a huge portion of the company\u2019s 3D printing output are large-scale parts with internal cavities. Dealing at these volumes, there may be multiple parts placed on a single build plate and it\u2019s crucial that each is processed in the same way to ensure repeatability. The Solukon solution \u201chas given us a confidence in our process that wasn\u2019t present before. And that\u2019s something that we pass on to our customers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Last year, Solukon took home the award in the post-processing category at the 2019 TCT Magazine Awards ceremony for its intelligent de-powdering solution. Siemens is currently testing the Solukon solution in its AM facilities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About the writer<\/strong>:Aaron Frankel<\/strong>\u00a0is Vice President of Siemens’ additive manufacturing software program. He has over 20 years of experience in the PLM software industry and has held various positions in engineering services, product management, and marketing \u2013 all focused on helping manufacturers take advantage of the latest digital design and manufacturing technology.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Virtually every part that comes out of a 3D printer requires some form of post-processing, whether it\u2019s support removal, depowdering,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61920,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,114],"tags":[116,117,119,125,128],"industry":[],"product":[398],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-video","tag-3d-printing","tag-additive-manufacturing","tag-computer-aided-manufacturing-cam","tag-digital-twin","tag-industry-4-0","product-nx-additive-manufacturing"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/08\/AA-2-Depowdering.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Virtually every part that comes out of a 3D printer requires some form of post-processing, whether it\u2019s support removal, depowdering,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61920,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spanish_translation":"","french_translation":"","german_translation":"","italian_translation":"","polish_translation":"","japanese_translation":"","chinese_translation":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,114],"tags":[116,117,119,125,128],"industry":[],"product":[398],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-video","tag-3d-printing","tag-additive-manufacturing","tag-computer-aided-manufacturing-cam","tag-digital-twin","tag-industry-4-0","product-nx-additive-manufacturing"],"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2020\/08\/AA-2-Depowdering.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172\/revisions\/255"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"industry","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/industry?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"product","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/product?post=172"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/additive\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=172"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}