3d screen printing mass production of metals and ceramics

3D SCREEN PRINTING MASS PRODUCTION OF METALS
AND CERAMICS
T. Studnitzky
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft
Rostock
Itzehoe
Lübeck
Bremerhaven
Bremen
Hannover
Potsdam
Braunschweig
Berlin
Teltow
Magdeburg
Cottbus
Oberhausen
Dortmund
Duisburg
Schmallenberg
St. Augustin
Aachen
Euskirchen
Darmstadt
St. Ingbert
Halle
Schkopau
Chemnitz
Ilmenau
Erlangen
Fürth
Nürnberg
Freising
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
23.000 employees
Dresden
Stuttgart
EfringenKirchen

Leipzig
Saarbrücken Karlsruhe
Pfinztal
Freiburg
67 Fraunhofer institutes and
independent research units in
Germany
Jena
Würzburg
Kaiserslautern

München
Holzkirchen
 12 institutes or branches in
Dresden
 4 of these at the Fraunhofer Institute
Center Dresden
Fraunhofer IFAM: Branch Lab Dresden
Permanent staff
62
Student employees
28
Budget
6.8 Mio. €
Industry
32 %
Projects
56 %
Public funding
12 %
Investments
Area
(Budget 2014)
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
0.8 Mio. €
2470 m2
Director: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Bernd Kieback
Metal Additive Manufacturing @ Fraunhofer IFAM


Las er Beam Melting
(LBM) [HB]

Electron Beam
Melting (EBM) [DD]
3D Metal Printing Binder Jetting approach
(3DP) [HB]

© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden

3D Metal Printing Binder Jetting approach
(3DP) [HB]
3D Metal Printing S creen Printing approach
(3DMP) [DD]
3D with screen printing ?
 Additive manufacturing process, patented 1993
 2008 first 3D-Screen Printing facility, first machine in R&D worldwide
 2014 working group „3D Metal Printing“ with six scientists and one
technician
 2014 new groundbreaking machine specially designed for 3D screen
printing
10 mm
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Process scheme
 Flooding, Printing & Hardening
 Screen Partners:
 PVF (Hall 6, Booth B39)
 Koenen Solar (Hall 3, Booth 355)
 Lift screen
 Optional: screen change
 Optional: Different material
 Sintering
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
3D stencil printing – new option
 Stencil instead of screen
 No Moiré effect
 Closed frames possible with holding grid
 M-TeCK stencil -> Christian Koenen GmbH (Hall A3, Booth 355)
 Possible higher layers and larger bridging
Source: Christian Koenen GmbH
M-TeCK stencil
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Printed options
Printed structures
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Achievable geometrical details (screen printing)
 Constant wall thickness (minimal 60 µm)
 Maximal height of several cm
 Constant cell size
 Possible bending in the green state
Properties of print:
 Wall thickness:
100 µm
 Wall height:
1.5 mm
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Achievable geometrical details (screen printing)
 Feature: Bridging up to 1 mm
20 mm
 Undercuts
 Hollow structures and channels –
without powder removal or
supporting structures
 Complex inner structures possible
Sieb 3
Sieb 2
Sieb 1
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
100 µm
Achievable geometrical details (stencil printing)
 Layer thickness > 300 – 500 µm
 Bridging > 2-3 mm
 Resolution in the range of the layer height
 Much higher building rate compared to screen printing
M-TeCK stencil
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Printed structures
3D screen printing - materials
 So far: Metals (based on Fe, Cu, Ti, W, La, Mo, Al, Ta, …)
 Ceramics?
 Materials Combinations?
Copper, steel and MoSi2
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Gas atomized copper
3D screen printing – Ceramics
 Cooperation with Fraunhofer IKTS
 Water based slurry based on metal systems
 Printed height: ~ 2 mm, 150 – 200 µm wall thickness
 Excellent green strength, no warpage
70 mm
Al2O3
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
70 mm
SiC
6 mm
Green part
3D screen printing – Multimaterial (adjacent structures)
 Two screens with different design used
 Two materials: Steel / Ceramic
 Sreen change after 5 layers each
 Printing of adjacent structures possible
10 mm
190 µm
Process scheme
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Printed structures
Printed structures
3D screen printing – Multimaterial (sandwich structures)
 Same screen – different materials
 Two materials: Steel / Ceramic
 Starting with pure ceramic slurry, adding metal slurry during printing
Ceramic
Steel
Sintered graded structure
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Features of the 2nd generation printing machine at IFAM
 Two printing tables
 printing area 300 mm x 300 mm
 Closed chamber
 climate control
 water free pastes possible
 All printing parameters
independently adjustable
 UV hardening facility
 Process control taken over from
industrial production lines
 first step towards industrial
production machine
 ASYS / EKRA -> Hall 3, booth 277
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
3D-Screen Printing – Applications
Cooling Systems
Fuel cell
Electric components
Implants
Heat exchanger
Filter
µ-Reactor
Sealings
Micromechanics
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Bipolor plate fuel cell
 Integrated channels
 Goal: Reduction of costs, size and weight
 structure sizes < 100 µm
10 mm
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Example: Micro cooling systems
 Design of optimized
structures (COMSOL)
 Different CAD models
transferred onto one
screen
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Example: Microparts
 Special tube for electrical application in cooperation with industry
 Complex part printed with five screens
 ~3500 parts printed at the same time on 1st generation lab machine
 +700.000 parts per year possible on 1st generation lab machine
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
3D screen printing - concepts for mass production
 2nd generation lab machine:
Table size 300 x 300 mm²
 decoupling of printing and curing
 1.500.000 parts / year
 Possible production machine:
 1 printing area / 5 substrate tables
 7.000.000 parts / year
 Possible production line:
 4 printing areas / 12 substrate tables
 simplified printing of complex parts
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Table size 400 x 600 mm²
Economical aspects
Technique
Built rate
Resolution
Powder size
[cm3 / h]
[µm]
[µm]
3D-Screen Printing (Lab
machine IFAM)
80 - 200
80 - 150
< 15 - < 50
Screen
3D-Stencil Printing (Lab
machine IFAM)
200 - 600
200 - 500
< 50
Stencil
Screen / stencil Printing
(10 table mass production)
>> 1000
100
< 15 - < 50
Screen / Stencil
SLM / EBM
50 - 100
300
> 45
--
FDM
50
400
--
--
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Tools?
Economical aspects
 Calculation (Screen Printing):
 316 L
 Printing area 200 x 300 mm
 Screen usage 5000 prints (solar industry 10000 - 100000)
 90 % good parts
 Including:
 Personnel costs
 Depreciation
 Heat treatment
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Study: µ-Heat exchanger
Einfluss der Siebfläche auf die Kosten pro Bauteil (2x3 cm)
0,7
0,6
Einschichtbetrieb, Ein-Tischanlage
6.000.000
Schichthöhe pro Lage: 15µm
Trocknungszeit pro Lage: 20s
Bauteilhöhe: 1mm
5.000.000
0,5
4.000.000
0,4
3.000.000
0,3
2.000.000
0,2
1.000.000
Parts / year
~400.000 Bauteile
pro Jahr
0,1
0,0
0
0,0
0,2
0,4
0,6
Siebgröße
[m²]
effektive
printing
area [m2]
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
0,8
Teileper
pro year
Jahr
Parts
0,8
Costs
per part
[€]
Kosten/Teil
[€/Teil]
7.000.000
Technikumanlage
Lab machine IFAMam IFAM
Economical aspects
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Process chain: From powder to part
 Partner R&D: Fraunhofer IFAM
 3D-Printing machines : EKRA / ASYS
 Screen / Stencil supplier: Koenen or PVF
 Powder: Depending on material
 Furnaces: Different, for e.g. MUT
 If necessary: Part manufacturer, in negotitian
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Economical considerations - take home messages
 2D screen printing is an established industrial process  process control
strategies can be transferred to 3D screen printing
 Productivity scales inversely with part volume
 Many different parts or part variations can be made on just one screen
 Parts that require many screens should be avoided or broken up into
simplified geometries  otherwise tooling cost goes up, time for screen
adjustment goes up
 Printing directly onto sinter substrate possible  easy handling of large
numbers of small parts
 Low wear of printing screens. Screens are inexpensive, several suppliers
exist
 Use of commercially available PIM powders recommended  powder
cost is known
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
3D-Screen Printing
Quelle: Siebdruckversand
Cavities / Channels possible
3D-free form difficult
Multicomponent parts
Design
Little tooling cost
Tool
Mass production possible
High materials variety
Medium surface quality
Manufacturing
Finishing, if needed
Postprocessing
Beam assisted Additive Manufacturing of metal parts (SLM, EBM)
Quelle: Argen
Quelle: FhG IFAM
No cavities
High freedom of design
Supporting structures needed
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
No tools needed
Limited part numbers
Poor surface quality
Limited materials variety
Removal supporting structure
Surface finishing needed
Additional heat treatment (SL
3D-Screen Printing
Quelle: Siebdruckversand
Cavities / Channels possible
3D-free form difficult
Multicomponent parts
Design
Little tooling cost
Tool
Mass production possible
High materials variety
Medium surface quality
Manufacturing
Finishing, if needed
Postprocessing
Metal Injection Moulding (MIM)
Quelle: Indo-MIM / Wittmann Battenfeld
Quelle: Arburg
Quelle: EC Tech
Free outer contour
Inner contours limited
No cavities
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
High tooling cost
Mass production possible
High surface quality
Typically no finishing needed
Where does 3D screen printing fit in?
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
Summary
 3D screen printing offers new possibilities in product design
 Possible structure size 60 µm
 Bridging possible without supporting structure
 3D screen printing is suitable for mass production
 Free choice of material
 Metals, ceramics, glass
 Material combinations possible
 Multilayers
 Sandwich structures (In printing direction)
 Adjacent structures (Perpendicular to printing direction)
 Graded structures
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden
© Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden