What could the future of additive manufacturing (AM) look like? It promises to be efficient, local, automated, and immediate. In fact, it could look exactly like the jaw-dropping convergent manufacturing platform featured in AMT’s Emerging Technology Center (ETC) at IMTS 2024.
Conceived of by the Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the Future Foundries platform has a double meaning. “Foundries” stands for foundational research platform for the integration of emerging systems. It also encompasses the need to supplement U.S. casting capacity, create more robust supply chains, reduce energy consumption, and bring new efficiencies to tooling and mold production and metal part repair.
As demonstrated in the ETC, the platform featured two metal AM systems from Lincoln Electric and exponentially grew their capabilities by orienting them around a Fastems FPT-500 automated pallet tower and integrating the capabilities of a 5-axis MU4000V machining center from Okuma, an Ajax Tocco induction heating system, a vision system from Zeiss, and four robots from Yaskawa America.
“The team from ORNL did such a good job integrating technologies and solving problems that I believe we could see a convergent manufacturing platform in U.S. production facilities in two or three years,” said Doug Woods, president of AMT. “This approach is perfect for job shops because it can produce multiple different parts with easily programmable changeovers. Then, if you wanted a longer part run, you could let the system run unattended overnight.”
Looking Into the Future
Located at the entrance to the North Building of McCormick Place, the ETC occupied some of the most valuable and visible real estate at IMTS, which is owned and produced by AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
“Our goal with the ETC is to introduce visitors to technologies that they can’t buy today but could impact their business five to 10 years in the future,” said Woods. “When ORNL proposed the convergent manufacturing platform, we wanted to feature it in the ETC at IMTS 2024. The platform provides game-changing solutions for the production of high-mix, low-volume components, demonstrates our continued efforts to advance AM, and showcases automation, which was a dominant theme at IMTS 2024.”
The mission of the MDF and ORNL is to form technical collaborations that develop next-generation manufacturing technologies. Funding comes in part from the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Technologies Office and the Department of Defense Industrial Base Analysis and Sustainment program. The goals of the program are to increase energy efficiency, strengthen supply chains, and help grow the U.S. industrial base.
IMTS and AMT first collaborated with ORNL for the live production of the 3D printed Strati vehicle on the show floor at IMTS 2014 (read the 10-year anniversary story at IMTS.com/story-strati). While the AM process was the star then, a decade of technology advancements requires new thinking.
“Additive manufacturing plays an essential role in accomplishing our objectives, but the convergent manufacturing platform shows how we can bring in other tools, such as automation, to make something of greater value,” says Brian Post, group leader for the Disruptive Manufacturing Systems Development group at ORNL. “The ETC demonstration has a much greater relevance in the manufacturing landscape than any stand-alone system.”
So that IMTS visitors would be able to relate to the system, ORNL created three industry-specific demonstrations:
A mold/tooling demonstration produced a unique mold for each day of the show; the mold was used to injection mold a daily challenge coin.
A casting and forging demonstration replicated the first-article casting the Navy uses to qualify a new foundry.
A clean-energy demonstration simulated repair of a worn tooth on a wind turbine gear.
The demonstrations, which ran concurrently for increased throughput, created a wow factor that defined IMTS 2024. More importantly, it is already shaping the future.
“We have had nothing but positive feedback,” says Thomas Feldhausen, one of the ORNL R&D staff members driving the project. “As a result of the ETC, we are in the process of entering into an official collaboration with a robotic 3D printing company who wants to leverage the technology. We are also building out the controls, robotic operating system, and data architecture on the backside, and we also plan to develop a larger, next-generation system in the coming years. I even heard we had people at IMTS ask if the platform was available for purchase, which is pretty flattering to an organization that doesn’t sell anything.”
Process Integration
To appreciate the possibilities of convergent manufacturing first requires understanding the interplay of the technologies. Here is a step-by-step description of how work flows through the platform:
The system retrieves a fixtured component/AM build plate (“part”) from a Fastems automated pallet tower, which can store up to 24 pallets and does all the part-moving in this workflow.
The part is placed in the induction heating module. There, a robot from Yaskawa America, equipped with an induction heating end-effector from Ajax Tocco, preheats it, which is required when using nickel-aluminum-bronze wire to reduce the potential for cracking.
After heating is complete, the part moves into the AM module, which uses metal AM technology from Lincoln Electric and software from Open Mind. The WAAM systems operate independently, increasing flexibility and throughput.
After printing, the part moves from the AM module to the inspection module, where it is inspected by a 3D scanning metrology station using a vision system from Zeiss.
If the part passes inspection, the part moves into an MU4000V machining center from Okuma, which uses cutting tools supplied by Kennametal and Zoller and workholding from 5th Axis. If it fails inspection, the workflow can be modified and the part transferred to the correct module based on remanufacturing needs.
After machining, the part returns to the pallet tower.
The part moves back to the metrology station to undergo final inspection.
Upon confirmation of dimensions, the part is moved to an unload station, where it is removed from its fixture.
If the part does not pass inspection, it is returned for further additive and/or subtractive processes.
ORNL’s Post loves cooking analogies, and he looks at the platform as a masterclass in baking.
“If you think about trying to bake a cake, anybody who has the recipe, all the ingredients, and the right set of tools can make a pretty decent cake,” says Post. “Our job at ORNL is to help small and medium-sized enterprises become better bakers.”
Dr. Craig Blue, ORNL chief manufacturing officer, believes that manufacturers will adopt subsets of the processes demonstrated at IMTS because convergent manufacturing makes them more competitive.
“Agile companies – those that can move from product A today to product B tomorrow – are the future of manufacturing,” he says. “Small lot sizes, specialization, and flexibility create new business opportunities for manufacturers that want to become part of the supply chain for our critical defense and industrial base components.”
Paradigm Shift
“While some of the benefits are more nuanced, what really resonated with visitors and exhibitors alike is the fact that we built the platform around a flexible pallet tower,” says Feldhausen. He notes that Fastems brought people over to the ETC so they could show how the pallet tower enabled unattended operation, provided simultaneous production of multiple high-mix components, enabled high-speed transfer of hot work, and preserved registration.
“ORNL’s hybrid solution literally has automation at its center and demonstrates essential tools for improving efficiency and repeatability without adding personnel,” says Brandon Glenn, director of sales at Okuma America Corp., a longtime collaborator with ORNL and IMTS. “I had to come to grips with the idea that the automation may well be the central piece of the manufacturing equation going forward, which is hard to say for a machine tool company with a 125-year history.”
Glenn notes that collaborations with ORNL put the company in a stronger position to help customers advance their business. Okuma invested in additive manufacturing some years ago to create the MU-8000V Laser EX hybrid system, and the Okuma Factory Automation Division launched a comprehensive lineup of automation systems at IMTS 2024. As a major provider of the processes the convergent manufacturing platform would demonstrate, supporting the ETC project was a logical move for Okuma.
“When ORNL called, Okuma was happy to provide the space to assemble the platform at our Charlotte headquarters, donate an MU4000V machining center, integrate the pallet tower, and provide technical assistance,” says Glenn. “We were proud to be able to support an out-of-the-box idea that inspired tens of thousands of visitors to the ETC. Just as it took time for people to wrap their minds around the benefits of 5-axis technology, the tipping point for automation is here, and it is coming for additive manufacturing.”
For more insight into the convergent manufacturing platform, view a conversation between Feldhausen and Woods at IMTS.com/Flexibility, and watch the IMTS+ Main Stage conversation “Convergent Manufacturing for U.S. Competitiveness” with Brian Post, Craig Blue, and other ORNL members at IMTS.com/convergent-manufacturing.
Apollo and ORNL Converge
AMT’s Emerging Technology Center also featured Apollo, a humanoid robot from Apptronik, that drew big crowds. Dave Lin, director of product marketing at Apptronik, describes what makes Apollo exceptional: “We are using AI to teach the robot how to perform tasks autonomously by leveraging a technique called imitation learning.”
So, could Apollo learn to make the injection molded challenge coins that were part of the ORNL exhibit?
“One night after the show, the ORNL and the Apptronik teams wanted to see how our technologies could converge,” says Feldhausen. “As with our platform, robots don’t replace jobs; they make them easier. Apollo conquered all the basic moves, but we ran into some fine motion control issues holding the coin with his hand. Still, it was pretty special that we wanted to explore this solution after working a show for 10 hours.”
Stay Tuned
A future MT Magazine story will explore Apollo’s appearance in the ETC. For more information on how humanoid robots could be the next major platform at IMTS, watch Apptronik co-founder and CEO Jeff Cardenas’ IMTS+ Main Stage presentation, “Beyond the Assembly Lines: The Future of AI-Powered Humanoid Robots in Factories” at IMTS.com/beyond-assembly-lines.
To read the rest of the Emerging Technology Issue of MT Magazine, click here.
