Thermwood's Vertical Layer Print (VLP) technology.
CNC machinery manufacturer Thermwood Corporation has developed a new approach to its large-format 3D printing technology that allows for vertical printing of industrial parts.
The process, called Vertical Layer Print (VLP), prints in an upright direction rather than horizontal to enable the creation of taller parts on its already sizeable LSAM (Large Scale Additive Manufacturing) systems, currently employed by a number of aerospace, marine, automotive and foundry customers including Boeing and Ascent Aerospace.
Demonstrated on Thermwood’s lower cost “MT” LSAM which launched last year, a vertical print bed is affixed to the back of the machine which travels along a moving table as the part grows. Parts are printed directly on this vertical 5 x 10 ft surface which makes it possible to print objects up to 5 (Z Axis) x 10 (X Axis) x 10 (Y Axis) ft in size.
To test out this new approach, Thermwood recently printed pieces in both low and high temperature thermoplastic. The first part was manufactured in carbon fibre reinforced ABS, ideal for parts that operate at or just above room temperature such as industrial tooling, fixtures, foundry patterns and a variety of structural components.
The second high temperature part was printed using Techmer blended 25% carbon fibre reinforced PSU/PESU in 16 hours and 40 minutes. The part printed weighed 1190 pounds, the proposed limit for parts on a moving table system.
Thermwood says the ability to print in these materials is ideal for the production of moulds and tools which are needed to function at elevated temperatures, often in an autoclave using pressure and vacuum.
Parts over 20 feet tall have already been printed on Thermwood’s larger LSAM systems, which combine both printing and trimming processes on a single platform. The company says its larger scale LSAM machines could theoretically print parts vertically that weigh up to 50,000 pounds. Thermwood added that VLP equipped machines up to forty feet long have already been built and delivered.
