In the beginning of winter in Beijing, there was a slight chill, but the sky was clear and blue, with no clouds in sight. on November 15, 2012, the atmosphere in the Metropolitan Hotel was very warm, and a plaque unveiling ceremony was being held.
This was the inaugural meeting of the "Beijing Digital Manufacturing Industry Technology Innovation Alliance", where experts, scholars and entrepreneurs from China's science and technology sector, aerospace industry, high-end manufacturing industry, universities and colleges witnessed China's first industry alliance to impact the 3D printing industry. This move has attracted great attention from government leaders and the scientific research community, and everyone was excited about the China-made 3D printing products on the booth, which did not have a lot of exhibits, especially the products of Beijing Longyuan Automated Molding Systems, China University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Tsinghua University were notable.
Echoing this, the global 3D printing industry has been in full swing. 2009, the United States took the lead in the publication of the "3D printing development roadmap", 2011 established the "3D Printing Industry Association", 2012, the Obama administration's initiative and the direct guidance of the establishment of the "3D Printing Alliance", the United States is striving to achieve "re-industrialization, remanufacturing" through the breakthrough of intelligent robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing three digital manufacturing technology. In 2012, at the initiative of the Obama administration and under the direct guidance of the establishment of the "3D Printing Alliance", the United States is striving to break through the intelligent robotics, artificial intelligence, 3D printing three major digital manufacturing technology, to achieve "re-industrialization, remanufacturing", to regain the dominant position in the manufacturing industry.
The European Union has also set up funds to support 3D printing technology, respectively, in the University of Nottingham, the University of Sheffield, the University of Exeter established a 3D printing center, which the University of Exeter and other European regional development funds to support the establishment of £ 2.6 million investment in incremental laminar manufacturing center, in order to promote the Southwest of the United Kingdom and the surrounding economic development.
In South Africa, in 2011, the South African National Laser Center (SANLC) and Aerosud, a South African aerospace manufacturing company, announced research on the Aeroswift project, with strong support from the South African Department of Science and Technology (DST), which has invested 28 million rand (about $3.4 million) in the project.
3D printing technology has become the keyword to lead the future development trend of global manufacturing.
With 3D printing technology as an opportunity, China also for the first time with the world's powerful countries, standing side by side in the starting line of high-end manufacturing industry research and development applications.
In China, there are only a few organizations engaged in 3D printing technology research, and only a few enterprises applying and industrializing 3D printing technology, and Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co. Founded in 1994, Beijing Longyuan was the earliest company in China to enter the research and development of 3D printing, and successfully developed China's first laser rapid prototyping machine in 1994, and devoted itself to the development of SLS rapid prototyping machine, as well as the application of rapid prototyping processing services. Has launched the AFS-360, 500, laserCore5100, 5300, 7000 and other models of SLS equipment (maximum forming space of 1400 × 700 × 400mm), with more than 200 users of equipment and more than 500 processing services, spread in the aerospace, shipbuilding, automotive manufacturing, and foundry industry and other broad areas.
Until today, only the United States, Japan and Germany can produce and process products with laser rapid prototyping machines in the world, and Beijing Longyuan's research and development and application have been synchronized with the world's advanced. As the pioneer of China's 3D printing industry, Beijing Longyuan has been walking on this lonely but charming road for a long time.
Twenty Years of Sword Sharpening and Fruit Making
As early as in the mid-1980s, China put forward the implementation of a high-tech research and development program, which has a significant impact on the future economic and social development of biotechnology, information technology, automation technology, new materials technology, laser technology and many other areas, to establish 15 thematic projects as the focus of breakthroughs in order to track the world's advanced level. Under this situation, Beijing Longyuan Automatic Molding System Co.
The company was founded in 1994 with a registered capital of US$2 million, specializing in the research, development and sales of rapid prototyping equipment, and successfully manufactured China's first SLS rapid prototyping equipment - AFS-360 in the same year of its founding.
SLS rapid prototyping is a kind of 3D printing technology, 3D printing technology belongs to a kind of non-traditional processing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, etc., is in the field of global advanced manufacturing in the past 30 years, a set of optical / mechanical / electrical, computer, numerical control and new materials in one of the advanced manufacturing technology. With the traditional cutting and other materials "removal method" is different, 3D printing technology through the powder, liquid sheet and other discrete materials layer by layer accumulation, "natural growth" into a three-dimensional entity. The technology will be three-dimensional entity into a number of two-dimensional plane, greatly reducing the complexity of manufacturing. Theoretically, as long as the design of the structural model on the computer, you can apply the technology in the absence of tools, molds and complex process conditions to quickly turn the design into a physical object. The technology is particularly suitable for aerospace, weaponry, biomedical, automotive manufacturing, mold and other fields in small batches, structural asymmetry, curved surfaces and internal structure of the parts (such as aero-engine hollow blades, human bone prosthesis, with the shape of the cooling waterway, etc.) of the rapid manufacturing, in line with the modern and future development trend.
Feng Tao, Chief Engineer of Beijing Longyuan, graduated from Tsinghua University and worked at the Institute of Polymer Materials of Tsinghua University, has rich theoretical and practical experience in polymer materials and laser optics, and is one of the earliest experts engaged in the research of laser rapid automatic molding technology in China. He has deep attainments in the application of 3D printing technology and materials. As early as 1995, he proposed the application of SLS to rapid precision manufacturing. Compared with other 3D printer technologies, the most outstanding advantage of SLS is the wide range of molding materials it uses. Theoretically, any powder material that can form interatomic bonding when heated can be used as the molding material for SLS. Currently, the materials that can be successfully molded by SLS include paraffin, polymer, metal, ceramic powders and their composite powder materials. SLS has a wide variety of molding materials, material savings, and a wide distribution of molded part properties, plus SLS does not require the design and manufacture of complex support systems, which makes it suitable for a wide range of applications. Under his leadership, Beijing Longyuan has successively successfully developed complex process production methods such as casting molten molds, wax mold pressing and casting shells, as well as the application methods of polystyrene powder and synthetic materials in 3D printing.
As the earliest company in China to realize the industrialization and service of 3D printing technology, Beijing Longyuan has been exploring and leading the 3D printing industry in China for 19 years, leading and promoting the development of China's 3D printing industry.
In 1994, we successfully manufactured the first SLS rapid prototyping machine in China, specializing in the development and sales of rapid prototyping equipment;
In 1995, it passed the expert appraisal organized by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission; it was awarded a patent for invention;
In 1997, sintered materials for precision casting and rapid casting processes were successfully researched and entered the field of rapid development of complex metal structural parts;
In 1998, we participated in the rapid prototyping demonstration service center project of the Ministry of Science and Technology, and our equipment was selected by two service centers;
In 2000, the SLS-based rapid casting process for metal parts with complex internal cavity structure was successfully developed, laying the foundation for the rapid production of engine-type complex structural parts, and the direct molding technology for metal materials entered a substantial development stage;
In 2002, the research on direct manufacturing of metal parts by high-power laser was started with the China Academy of Engineering Physics (CAEP);
In 2004, cooperated with South China University of Technology to carry out selective laser melting metal forming technology. At present, the density of 100% stainless steel and Ni-based alloy steel parts can be manufactured; in 2003, the launch of large-size rapid prototyping equipment AFS-450, hardware and software than the AFS-320 has 22 major improvements. The equipment is more stable, reliable, user-friendly, faster and more accurate, and has become the preferred equipment for enterprise users;
In 2005, AFS-500 was introduced with molding size of 125 liters and sales were formed in the same year. A sintered fine casting wax that can be directly steam removed was also introduced, which seamlessly connects with traditional investment casting and solves the problem of rough surface of titanium alloy rapid casting;
In 2008, we developed the AFS-700 molding machine, with a molding size of 245 cubic liters, which was the largest laser powder sintering machine at that time, and met most of the requirements for precision casting size. The equipment adopts a new way of loading and spreading powder, which reduces the unidirectional spreading time by half and eliminates the need for intermediate feeding. The equipment was sold in the same year;
In 2009, a breakthrough was achieved in laser sintered sand. The strength and gas generation of the molded sand core reached the casting requirements. Started the development of casting sintered sand sintering molding of proprietary equipment laser core making machine;
In 2010, the development of LaserCore 5300 prototype was completed and test marketing started.
3D printing technology, as one of the most advanced manufacturing methods, also represents the most cutting-edge science and technology in the world today.
However, the development of science and technology industry is not overnight, must be after a long and arduous accumulation, there will be an outbreak, after nearly 20 years of cultivation and progress, Beijing Longyuan finally ushered in the outbreak of the 3D printing industry.
3D Applications Leading China
Since the outbreak of the global economic crisis caused by the financial crisis in the United States in 2008, the world economy seems to have never come out of the doldrums, and despite several attempts to rebound during that period, growth has ultimately been weak due to a lack of strength. Historical experience has repeatedly shown that when the global economy is in recession, it is the time for the emergence of a new economy and the birth of new technologies. The sluggishness of the global economy showed that the traditional relations of production had seriously impeded the development of productive forces and that change would be the new driving force of those relations.
This year, the discussion of the third industrial revolution has reached a climax. American scholar Jeremy Rivkin said that the combination of the Internet and new energy sources will produce a new round of industrial revolution - this will be the third "revolution" after the 19th-century steam engine and 20th-century electrification. The Economist magazine also pointed out that the market potential of 3D printing technology is huge, and it is bound to become one of the many breakthroughs that will lead the future trend of manufacturing. These breakthroughs will enable factories to say goodbye to traditional tools such as lathes, drills, stamping presses and mold-making machines, and be dominated by more nimble computer software, which is a sign of the arrival of the third industrial revolution.
As an advanced manufacturing technology integrating light/machine/electricity, computer, numerical control and new materials, 3D printing technology is now widely used in aerospace, and weapons, automotive and racing cars, electronics, biomedical, dental, jewelry, gaming, consumer goods and daily necessities, food, construction, education and many other fields. It is foreseeable that the technology will be more inclined to the direction of daily consumer goods manufacturing, functional parts manufacturing and integrated manufacturing of tissues and structures.
After 19 years of exploration and innovation, Beijing Longyuan has become a leader in the application of 3D printing technology in China, and has made outstanding contributions to the take-off of China's aerospace, automotive, and other industries.
Aerospace field: Aerospace products are characterized by complex shape, small batch size, large differences in part specifications, high reliability requirements, and the stereotyping of the products is a complex and precise process, which often requires many times of design, testing and improvement, costly and time-consuming, and it is difficult to manufacture by traditional methods. Therefore, 3D printing technology has a unique application prospect in the research and development of modern aerospace products with its flexible and various process methods and technical advantages. In foreign countries, the United States, Boeing will be 3D printing technology and traditional casting technology, manufacturing aluminum alloy, titanium alloy, stainless steel and other different materials such as cargo door bracket parts; General Motors application of 3D printing technology to manufacture aerospace and marine impeller and other key parts; Belgium Materialise company's Mammoth laser rapid prototyping system, its one-time maximum processing size Mammoth laser rapid prototyping system of Belgium Materialise Company, its one-time maximum processing size of up to 2200mm.
In China, Beijing Longyuan, relying on its own technical advantages, provides China's aerospace and other sectors and aircraft manufacturers with the production and service of helicopter engines, helicopter magazines, worm gear pumps, titanium frames, exhaust ducts (maximum height up to 2800mm), aircraft suspension parts, flywheel shells and other aircraft parts: in 1996, the first commercialized SLS rapid prototyping machine was sold to the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Material Research In 1996, the first commercialized SLS rapid prototyping machine was sold to Beijing Aeronautical Material Research Institute (BAMRI), and was successfully applied to the development of new products for military aviation; in 1999, the second generation of commercialized equipment, AFS-320, was successfully introduced to the market. The application of rapid prototyping has gradually unfolded, and it has participated in and completed the development of several key national aerospace projects, such as: liquid oxygen-kerosene and liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen engines for high-thrust rockets, and satellite gyroscope frames.
Military industrial field: 3D printing technology and traditional manufacturing technology, compared with simple, easy to operate and so on, especially for some new materials processing, the results are particularly significant. Such as aluminum alloy has been the most widely used metal structure material in the military industry. Aluminum alloy has the characteristics of low density, high strength, good corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, etc. As a structural material, due to its excellent processing performance, it can be made into a variety of cross-sectional profiles, tubes, high-bar plates, etc., in order to give full play to the potential of the material, and to improve the stiffness of the components. Therefore, aluminum alloy is the lightweight structural material preferred for weapon lightweighting. The U.S. military has applied 3D printing technology to assist in the manufacture of pop-up igniter models for missiles, and has achieved good results.
In China, titanium alloy has been widely used in the manufacture of self-propelled artillery turrets, components, armored vehicles, tanks, military helicopters, etc. In 1999, Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming Co., Ltd. participated in the completion of a number of key national military industry projects by using 3D printing technology, such as the turbocharger of the new JS-II tanks, the shells of infrared guidance instrument observation mirrors, etc. In 2002, Beijing Longyuan began to carry out research on high-power laser direct manufacturing of metal parts with the China Academy of Engineering Physics, thus further promoting the development of China's military industry. In 2002, Beijing Longyuan started to carry out research on high-power laser direct manufacturing of metal parts with China Academy of Engineering Physics, which further promoted the development of China's military industry.
Automobile manufacturing field: Germany's Audi Automobile Company (Audi) used 3D printing technology to successfully use KUKA robots to manufacture the Audi RSQ car. With the development of China's automobile industry, the rapid growth of automobile production, some key components are also increasingly complex, large-scale and lightweight, which requires the realization of the parts of the overall and integrated manufacturing. The use of molds for sanding the traditional process of mold making, making the mold more and more complex, the number of live blocks has also increased dramatically, these factors to a certain extent have constrained the development of China's automotive industry.
In China, the technical team of Beijing Longyuan, a leader in 3D printing technology in China, has launched a research on 3D printing technology in the field of automotive engine manufacturing. SLS uses infrared laser beams to melt thermoplastic materials to form three-dimensional parts, and one of its most important features is that the molding process is independent of the degree of complexity, which makes it particularly suitable for the extremely complex internal structure of the engine block, cylinder head, intake and exhaust pipes and other components. components. In addition, SLS technology molding materials, especially with casting resin sand and disappearable mold material molding, therefore, can be combined with casting technology, rapid casting of engine parts. the combination of SLS technology and casting technology, derived from the rapid casting technology, can be effectively applied to engine design and development stage of the prototype of the rapid manufacturing. Its suitability for single-piece and small batch trial production and production characteristics, can quickly respond to the market and provide small quantities of products for testing and experimentation, help to ensure the speed of product development. The controllability of its molding process allows for instant modifications at low cost during the design development stage in order to check designs or provide assembly models. Helps to improve the quality of product development, its rapid prototyping raw material diversity, for the product development stage provides different process combinations, due to the localization of SLS raw materials and molding process can be organically combined with the traditional process, which helps to reduce the cost of development, the combination of the rapidity of the process, to support the increase in the frequency of the product replacement, and help to promote the product to enter the market as soon as possible.
Using 3D printing technology, Beijing Longyuan produces engine blocks, cylinder heads, gearbox shells, etc. for automobile manufacturers, which are not only fast but also highly accurate, thus making the manufacture of complex automobile parts digital, precise, flexible and green. Nowadays, Longyuan's products can be seen in the engines of many domestic high-speed railroads, moving trains and subways.
In 2001, Beijing Longyuan developed successful rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing processes for key structural components of automobiles, and began to provide RP services for cylinder blocks, cylinder heads, intake pipes, and transmission housings for automobile companies;
In 2006, Beijing Longyuan laser direct molding casting sand core technology to the market, the sale of the first specialized for casting sand core molding equipment. And successfully used in the rapid development of automobile engine block, cylinder head and supercharger;
In 2011, Beijing Longyuan started to research and develop large-size laser core making machine to meet the needs of diesel engine and other industries; through the cooperation with Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Crafts Institute, it has developed the rapid manufacturing method and process of diesel cylinder block and cylinder head, and so on.
Biomedical field: At present, 3D printing technology is also applied to the biomedical field, including bones, teeth, artificial liver, artificial blood vessels, drug manufacturing and so on. In terms of bio-manufacturing, developed countries such as Europe and the United States have more research, a wider range and have achieved clinical applications: in the United States, the use of SLA manufacturing technology, the use of biocompatible resins can be made for medical hearing aids, eye crystal models, artificial teeth, etc.; in Italy, the use of SLA manufacturing technology has been manufactured using the human skeletal restorations.
In China, Beijing Longyuan cooperates with Peking University Stomatological Hospital, where the CT scan data of patients are processed by Magics software from CT workstation to PC, burned and stored in standard format (Dicom format), and then provided to Longyuan, which develops and researches the rapid prototyping machine AFS-320 accordingly. This equipment adopts the selective laser powder sintering method, and the raw material is polystyrene powder, which is made into a solid model, and can be used in oral healthcare for symptoms such as abnormal zygomaticomandibular bone fiber hyperplasia and other symptoms, and has achieved very good curative effects. Meanwhile, in the treatment of old zygomatico-zygomatic arch comminuted fracture, the results of clinical application showed good therapeutic effect.
Rigorous management in pursuit of excellence
At present, many countries and regions in the world are developing or applying 3D printing technology. According to some information, in 2010, the total output value of the global 3D printing industry reached 1.325 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 24.1% over the previous year; in 2011, the global revenue was 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 2.94% over the previous year; it is predicted that it will reach 2.1 billion U.S. dollars in 2012, 3.7 billion U.S. dollars in 2015, and 6.5 billion U.S. dollars in 2019. It can be said that the number of 3D printing technology to a certain extent shows the country's economic vitality and innovation ability.
According to the international authoritative 3D printing industry report "Wohlers Report 2012", the world's major countries and regions according to the number of equipment owned by the top 10 rankings are as follows: the United States 38.3%, Japan 10.2%, Germany 9.3%, China 8.6%, the United Kingdom 4.4%, Italy 3.9%, South Korea 2.2%, Canada 1.9%, China Taiwan 1.5%. TP3T, France 3.0%, South Korea 2.2%, Canada 1.9%, China Taiwan 1.5%, of which the U.S. and the EU is the most important equipment owning countries, China has less than 10% of the number of equipment, and many of them are imported from abroad. And the production equipment of major countries and regions equipment manufacturers are as follows: the United States 72.9%, Europe 10.2%, Israel 9.3%, Japan 3.7%, China 3.6%, and the remaining 0.3% is owned by other countries and regions. The above data shows that China still needs to catch up in 3D printing.
Among the few domestic enterprises in the 3D printing industry, Beijing Longyuan is undoubtedly an industry leader. In the course of nearly twenty years of development, Beijing Longyuan has also experienced the experience that all new technology industries are bound to go through. As the earliest domestic realization of 3D printing technology (additive manufacturing technology) industrialization, service-oriented listed companies, Beijing Longyuan not only has excellent technical strength, in the management also has excellent. The company has a stable and effective team, from the chief engineer Feng Tao, marketing director to the technical backbone, etc., are the old staff since the start of the business, they have comprehensive professional knowledge, professional and technical skills, rich market experience, with good collaboration and communication skills, can be in-depth and accurate grasp of the customer's product design, development and production requirements, through the scientific and rigorous workflow, combined with the long-term practical experience to provide users with the most suitable solutions. Through scientific and rigorous workflow, combined with long-term practical experience, we can provide the most suitable solutions for our customers.
Beijing Longyuan not only has independent intellectual property rights of 3D printing equipment and products, but also has a unique service system. We provide one-stop solution to our customers. The company has the domestic top equipment, can provide a complete set of equipment and services for small batch production, as well as personalized customization services, to achieve the true meaning of one-stop processing to solve the problem. At the same time, the use of comprehensive technology and strong technical strength, for the different stages of product design and development, to provide the best equipment and technical means, to provide customers with the shortest time, the lowest cost, the best performance of products and services.
Beijing Longyuan has many types of self-developed SLS-type series 3D printers, processing materials including paraffin, polymer, metal, ceramic powder and its composite powder, etc. Its products are fully in line with the requirements of customers in aerospace, automobile manufacturing and other high-precision fields.
In terms of service, Longyuan's performance is more professional. Longyuan provides customers with 24-hour online consulting services, and has branches or offices in many parts of the country. Whenever and wherever problems or difficulties are encountered, Longyuan's engineers will provide assistance through the network, telephone or door-to-door. At the same time, Longyuan requires every after-sales service personnel to master the relevant technical and theoretical knowledge, and be able to carry out after-sales technical training and maintenance, to solve the customer's use of the problem, to maintain a good relationship with the customer. For example, the service personnel should know how to operate CAD drawing operation, in order to provide customers with timely and effective technical support and after-sales service. In addition, Longyuan's after-sales service personnel are all professionals with bachelor's degree or above in related majors, such as mechanical, electromechanical, electronic, material application, etc., and also have a certain amount of work experience.
Continuous innovation and sailing for the future
For the world in the 21st century, this is an era when "Made in China" is ubiquitous. 2010, China surpassed the United States to become the largest country in the manufacturing industry, with the share of manufacturing output accounting for 19.8% in the world. of the 22 major categories of the manufacturing industry, our country ranked first in the world in seven of the major categories. "Made in China" has made great contributions to China's economic takeoff and the development of the world economy. However, China has a long way to go to become a manufacturing powerhouse and change the status quo of being in the middle and low end of the international division of labor and industrial chain.
The arrival of the wave of 3D printing industry is an excellent opportunity. The third industrial revolution centered on the digitalization and intelligence of the manufacturing industry is coming - the connotation of advanced manufacturing technology innovation includes product innovation, manufacturing technology innovation and industrial model innovation. Digital, intelligent technology will profoundly change the manufacturing production mode and industrial form, will bring unprecedented challenges and opportunities for China's manufacturing development, the next two decades, will be China's manufacturing industry from big to strong, to achieve leapfrog development, innovation and comprehensive competitiveness to enter the world's forefront of the excellent development opportunities.
Beijing Longyuan continues to stand in the tide of China's 3D printing industry, on the one hand, advocating the development of the industry, successively initiated the establishment of the "Beijing Digital Manufacturing Industry Technology Innovation Alliance" and "China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance", and at the same time invested in the research and development of newer and higher-end technologies and products. At the same time, it invests in R&D and production of newer and higher-end technologies and products. According to Feng Tao, Chief Engineer, Beijing Longyuan is working on the application of metal powder in SLS technology and has achieved certain results. In his opinion, realizing the use of high melting point metal direct sintering molding parts is of particular importance for the wider application of 3D printing technology in high strength parts that are difficult to manufacture by traditional cutting and machining methods. Feng Tao believes that the research direction of SLS forming technology in the field of metal materials should be the sintering molding of unit system metal parts, the sintering molding of multiple alloy material parts, advanced metal materials such as metal nanomaterials, amorphous metal alloys, such as laser sintering molding, etc., is particularly suitable for the molding of micro components of cemented carbide materials. In addition, parts with functional gradient and structural gradient are sintered and formed according to the specific functional and economic requirements of the parts. It is foreseeable that, with the mastery of laser sintering metal powder molding mechanism, the optimal sintering parameters of various metal materials to obtain, as well as the emergence of special rapid prototyping materials, the research and references of SLS technology will certainly enter a new realm.
In addition, Beijing Longyuan Institute also has a newer application direction in the medical field, i.e., professional rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing solutions in the dental field: CAD design of dentures can be realized by using specific CAD software, including 3D design of tooth bases, crowns, bridges, hooded crowns, veneers, inlays and so on. With CAD design, rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing of dentures can be automated, with high results, fewer consumables and lower costs.
As one of the most typical and widely used technologies in the digital manufacturing industry, 3D printing technology will play an unparalleled role in upgrading China's industrial manufacturing industry. This kind of innovative technology, which has a series of strategic advantages such as broad market prospects, low resource consumption, large driving factor, many employment opportunities, and good comprehensive benefits, will help to cultivate strategic emerging industry clusters, as well as promote and upgrade a number of key industry clusters.
Undoubtedly, the promotion of 3D printing technology is of great strategic significance to enhance China's industrial innovation capability, improve process manufacturing capability, drive the development of related industrial chain, crack the industrial development and resource environment dilemma, cultivate new industries and optimize industrial structure.
Beijing Longyuan, in the 3D printing industry on the road, but also continue to stride forward.
3D printing technologyBelongs to a non-traditional processing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, is the rise of the global advanced manufacturing field in the past 30 years, a set of optical / mechanical / electrical, computer, numerical control and new materials in one of the advanced manufacturing technology. With the traditional manufacturing in material subtraction is different, 3D printing is practicing the code of addition, that is, through the powder, liquid sheet and other discrete materials layer by layer accumulation, "natural growth" into a three-dimensional entity, and then three-dimensional entity into a number of two-dimensional plane, greatly reducing the complexity of manufacturing. As long as the design of the structural model on the computer, you can quickly turn the design into a physical object, without the need for tools, molds and complex machining processes. 3D printing technology is particularly suitable for aerospace, weapons and equipment, biomedical, molds and other fields of small batch size, structural asymmetry, curved surfaces, and the content of structural parts (such as hollow blades of aircraft engines, human bone repair body, with the shape of the cooling waterway) rapid manufacturing, very consistent with the modern and future industrialization. Manufacturing, very in line with the modern and future trends of industrial manufacturing.
This year has seen a crescendo of discussions on the third industrial revolution. American scholar Jeremy? Rivkin said that the combination of the Internet and new energy will produce a new round of industrial revolution - this will be the third "revolution" after the 19th century steam engine and 20th century electrification. The Economist magazine also pointed out that the market potential of 3D printing technology is huge, and it is bound to become one of the many breakthroughs that will lead the future trend of manufacturing. These breakthroughs will enable factories to completely say goodbye to traditional tools such as lathes, drills, stamping presses, mold-making machines, and so on, and replaced by more flexible computer software dominates, which is the sign of the arrival of the third industrial revolution. Some statistics, in 2010, the total output value of the additive manufacturing 3D printing industry reached 1.325 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 24.1% over the previous year, 2011 global revenue of 1.7 billion U.S. dollars, an increase of 2.94% over the previous year, it is expected that in 2012 will amount to 2.1 billion U.S. dollars, in 2015 to reach 3.7 billion U.S. dollars, and 2019 to reach 6.5 billion U.S. dollars.
The core manufacturing idea of 3D printing technology first originated in the United States in the late 19th century, but it was only in the late 1980s that 3D printing technology matured and was widely used. At present, the 3D printing industry in the United States, Japan, Germany and other countries is more developed. In China, engaged in 3D printing technology research institutions are few, and the 3D printing technology applications and industrialization of enterprises are only a few, Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co., Ltd. is with the implementation of the national high-tech research and development program in the 1990s and the emergence of the earliest one of the country's first 3D printing enterprises. Founded in 1994, Beijing Longyuan Automatic Molding System Co. Ltd. was founded in 1994, with a registered capital of 17 million. It successfully developed China's first SLS rapid prototyping equipment - AFS-360, and then devoted itself to the development of Selective Laser Powder Sintering (SLS, Selective Laser Sintering) rapid prototyping machine, and at the same time committed to rapid prototyping applications and processing services. Nowadays, its partners are spread all over the country, including many domestic research institutes and leading enterprises in the field of automobile manufacturing.
Beijing LongyuanFeng Tao, Chief Engineer, graduated from Tsinghua University, worked at the Institute of Polymer Materials, Tsinghua University, with rich theoretical and practical experience in polymer materials and laser optics, was the first to engage in China'sLaser rapid prototypingOne of the experts in technology research. He has deep knowledge about the application of 3D printing technology and materials. As early as 1995, he proposed the application of SLS to theRapid Precision Manufacturing. The most outstanding advantage of SLS over other 3D printer technologies is the wide range of molding materials it uses. Theoretically, any powder material that can form interatomic bonds when heated can be used as a molding material for SLS. Currently, the materials that can be successfully molded by SLS include paraffin, polymer, metal, ceramic powders and their composite powders, and SLS is suitable for a wide range of applications due to its variety of molding materials, material savings, and wide distribution of molded part properties, as well as the fact that SLS does not require the design and manufacture of complex support systems. Under his leadership, Beijing Longyuan has successively successfully developed complex process production methods such as casting molten molds, wax mold pressing and casting shells, as well as the application methods of polystyrene powder and synthetic materials in 3D printing.
For SLS molding materials, Feng Tao gave a detailed explanation.
Polystyrene is one of the earliest industrialized plastics, belongs to the amorphous polymers, it has low specific heat, fast heating flow and cooling curing speed, moderate melt viscosity, and better fluidity and thermal stability, which is beneficial to theSLS sintering molding. Polystyrene has no obvious melting point, the range of melting temperature is wide, about 95 ℃ began to soften, between 120 ℃ to 180 ℃ to become fluid, more than 300 ℃ began to decompose, releasing gases, to more than 380 ℃ will be violently decomposed. Polystyrene can be melted and bonded when heated, and can be cured and molded after cooling, and the material has a small moisture absorption rate, and the strength of the molded parts can be further improved by dipping the resin, and the main performance index can be up to the tensile strength ≥ 15MPa, bending strength ≥ 33MPa, impact strength ≥ 3MPa, which can be used as the prototype parts or functional parts, and it can be used as the mother mold for vanishing mold casting.
Ceramics, as an important structural material, has the advantages of high strength, high hardness, high temperature resistance, corrosion resistance, etc., whether in the traditional industrial field or emerging high-tech fields have a wide range of applications. However, the inherent advantages of ceramics, such as high strength and high hardness, but at the same time to the ceramic parts of the molding, processing brings a lot of difficulties, and thus ceramic powder is difficult to be directly sintered by SLS technology. In order to solve this problem, the commonly used method is to add organic binder, inorganic binder and metal binder. Beijing Longyuan Company proposes the method of preparing mesoscopic α-SiAlON ceramic rotor by SLS with Si3N4 (silicon nitride, the main component of a new type of ceramics) powder as raw material. That is, the surface of Si3N4 powder is modified with inorganic and organic twice coating, and then the blank is produced. The blanks produced in this way using binder-coated revered powders are stronger than those obtained by mixing binder and ceramics, and the molding accuracy and mechanical properties of the final parts are better.
Metal powder can realize the use of high melting point metal direct sintering molding parts, 3D printing technology in the use of traditional cutting and processing methods are difficult to create a wider range of high-strength parts has a particularly important significance. Feng Tao believes that SLS molding technology in the field of metal materials should be the research direction of the unit system of metal parts sintering molding, sintering molding of multiple alloy material parts, advanced metal materials such as metal nanomaterials, amorphous metal alloys, such as laser sintering molding, etc., is particularly suitable for the molding of micro components of cemented carbide materials. In addition, parts with functional gradient and structural gradient are sintered and formed according to the specific functional and economic requirements of the parts.
Coated sand using thermosetting resins such as phenolic resin to join the zircon sand, quartz sand produced by the method, the use of laser sintering method to produce prototypes can be directly used as a casting sand (core) to manufacture metal parts, of which the zircon sand has a better casting performance, especially suitable for non-ferrous alloys with complex shapes, such as magnesium, aluminum, and other alloys of the casting. Sand and low melting point polymer materials have two mixing methods, one is mechanical mixing, the other is the polymer material heating and melting, the sand pouring, stirring evenly, so that the sand surface covered with a layer of polymer material. Because of the good sintering performance of the coated sand, it is commonly used in the automobile manufacturing industry and aviation industry and other fields.
In addition, at present, Beijing Longyuan can successfully carry out SLS molding processing materials, such as paraffin, plastics and other new materials, composite powder materials, etc. SLS molding material varieties, material savings, molded parts with a wide range of performance distribution, plus SLS does not require the design and manufacture of complex support systems, suitable for a variety of purposes.
3D printing technology is now widely used in aerospace, and weapons, automotive and motorsports, electronics, biomedical, dental, jewelry, gaming, consumer and everyday products, food, construction, education and many other fields. It is foreseeable that the technology will be more inclined to the direction of daily consumer goods manufacturing, functional parts manufacturing and tissue and structure integration manufacturing. After 19 years of exploration and innovation, Beijing Longyuan has become a leader in the application of 3D printing technology in China and has made outstanding contributions to the take-off of China's aerospace, automotive, and other industries.
Aerospace: Aerospace products are characterized by complex shapes, small batch sizes, large differences in part specifications, and high reliability requirements, and the stereotyping of products is a complex and precise process that often requires multiple designs, tests and improvements, consumes large amounts of money, takes a long time, and is difficult to manufacture by traditional methods. Therefore, 3D printing technology has a unique application prospect in the research and development of modern aerospace products with its flexible and diverse process methods and technical advantages. Relying on its own technical advantages, Beijing Longyuan has provided helicopter engines, helicopter magazines, worm gear pumps, titanium frames, exhaust ducts (maximum height up to 2800mm), aircraft suspension parts, flywheel shells, and other aircraft parts for China's aerospace and other sectors and aircraft manufacturers: in 1996, the first commercial SLS rapid prototyping machine was sold to the Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Material Research and was successfully applied to the development of new products for military aviation. In 1996, the first commercialized SLS rapid prototyping machine was sold to Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, and was successfully applied to the development of new products for military aviation; in 1999, the second generation of commercialized equipment, AFS-320, was successfully introduced to the market. The application of rapid prototyping is gradually unfolding, and we have participated in and completed the development and research tasks of several key national aerospace projects, such as: liquid oxygen-kerosene and liquid oxygen-liquid hydrogen engines for high-thrust rockets, and gyroscope frames for satellites.
Military industry: 3D printing technology and traditional manufacturing technology, compared with simple, easy to operate and other characteristics, especially for the processing of some new materials, the results are particularly significant. For example, aluminum alloy has been the most widely used metal structure material in the military industry. Aluminum alloy has the characteristics of low density, high strength, good corrosion resistance, high temperature resistance, etc. As a structural material, due to its excellent processing performance, it can be made into various cross-sectional profiles, tubes, high-bar plates, etc., in order to give full play to the potential of the material and to improve the stiffness of the components. Therefore, aluminum alloy is the preferred lightweight structural material for weapon lightweighting. By utilizing 3D printing technology, Beijing Longyuan has participated in and completed the development and research tasks of a number of national key projects in the military industry, such as the turbocharger of the new JS-II tank, the shell of infrared guidance instrument observation mirror, etc., thus further promoting the development of China's military industry.
Automobile manufacturing: With the development of China's automobile industry, automobile production is growing rapidly, and some key parts are becoming more and more complex, large-scale and lightweight, which requires the realization of parts of the overall and integrated manufacturing. However, the traditional process of making molds by sand-turning makes the molds more and more complicated and the number of live blocks increases dramatically, which to a certain extent restricts the development of China's automotive industry. In China, the technical team of Beijing Longyuan, which is leading the domestic 3D printing technology, has launched a research on 3D printing technology in the field of automotive engine manufacturing. SLS is a process that utilizes infrared laser beams to melt thermoplastic materials to form three-dimensional parts, and one of its most important features is that the molding process is independent of the degree of complexity, which makes it particularly suitable for the extremely complex internal structure of the engine block, cylinder head, intake and exhaust pipes and other components. components. In addition, SLS technology molding materials, especially with casting resin sand and disappearable mold material molding, therefore, can be combined with casting technology, rapid casting of engine parts. the combination of SLS technology and casting technology, derived from the rapid casting technology, can be effectively applied to engine design and development stage of the prototype of the rapid manufacturing. Its suitability for single-piece and small batch trial production and production characteristics, can quickly respond to the market and provide small quantities of products for testing and experimentation, help to ensure the speed of product development. The controllability of its molding process allows for low-cost, instantaneous modifications at the design development stage in order to check designs or provide assembly models. Helps to improve the quality of product development, its rapid prototyping raw material diversity, for the product development stage provides different process combinations, due to the localization of SLS raw materials and molding process can be organically combined with the traditional process, which helps to reduce the cost of development, the combination of the rapidity of the process, to support the increase in the frequency of the product replacement, and help to promote the product to enter the market as soon as possible.
Using 3D printing technology, Beijing Longyuan produces engine blocks, cylinder heads, gearbox shells, etc. for automobile manufacturers, not only with fast manufacturing speed but also with high precision, thus making the manufacturing of complex automobile parts digital, precise, flexible and green. Nowadays, the engines of many domestic high-speed railways, moving trains and subways can be seen in theProducts from LonrwonThe
Biomedicine: 3D printing technology is also currently being applied to the biomedical field, including bones, teeth, artificial livers, artificial blood vessels, and drug manufacturing. Beijing Longyuan cooperates with Peking University Stomatological Hospital, which transmits patients' CT scan data from CT workstation to PC through Magics software processing, burns and stores them in standard format (Dicom format), and then provides them to Longyuan, which develops and researches AFS-320 rapid prototyping machine accordingly. The equipment adoptsSelected Area Laser Powder Sinteringmethod, the raw material is polystyrene powder, which is made into a solid model, can be used in oral health care for symptoms such as zygomaticomaxillary bone fiber abnormal hyperplasia, and achieved good therapeutic effect. Meanwhile, in the treatment of obsolete zygomatic zygomatic arch comminuted fracture, the results of clinical application show good therapeutic effect. At present, Longyuan has a new direction in the medical field, i.e., professional rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing solutions in the field of dentistry: CAD design of denture can be realized by using specific CAD software, including 3D design of dental base, crown, bridge, hooded crown, veneer, and dental onlay. With CAD design, rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing of dentures can be automated, with high results, fewer consumables and lower costs.
At present, China has entered the critical period of building a moderately prosperous society in an all-round way and the period of deepening reform and opening up, accelerating the transformation of the economic development mode.The development of 3D printing technology has a series of strategic advantages, such as broad market prospects, low consumption of resources, large driving coefficients, many employment opportunities, and good comprehensive benefits, which can cultivate a batch of strategic emerging industry clusters on the basis of which is helpful to promote the upgrading of a batch of key industrial clusters. Industry clusters. We believe that Beijing Longyuan, as the earliest company to develop 3D printing industry in China, will continue to lead and stride forward in the future development of China's 3D printing industry by virtue of advanced technology, standardized management, perfect service and continuous innovation.
In recent years, China's 3D printing industry, which started in the 1990s, has been developing rapidly, and China's huge population has provided a broad market for 3D printing applications. Statistics show that since 2008, the number of 3D printers in China has doubled seven times, and the technology is close to the world's advanced level. However, it should not be ignored that the industrialization of China's 3D printing process is still a large gap with Europe and the United States, the overall application service capacity is still far behind Europe and the United States. In China's 3D printing industry is still in the primary stage of development, Europe and the United States and other developed countries, 3D printing technology has been widely used in space vehicles, automobiles, construction, clothing, and even food, human tissue and organs, etc., especially in some cross-disciplinary areas of the application of more obvious. The reasons for this are: production, learning, research and use of disconnect, although there are already some institutions engaged in 3D printing technology research, but the real 3D printing technology applications and industrialization of the enterprise is not much, a lot of technology only stays in the academic level, do not get a good industrial application; a lot of research and development, innovative products lack of effective combination of market demand, ignored from the prerequisites of the market demand; lack of leading enterprises, core technologies and mature business models. As Luo Jun, executive director of China 3D Printing Technology Industry Alliance, said from the bottom of his heart after visiting Stratasys and 3D Systems: whoever opens the application market first in the future may lead the development of this industry (3D printing). In other words, who has a strong application service capability, who will be able to compete in the 3D printing industry more advantageous and seize the market opportunity.
Unfolding the development scroll of China's 3D printing industry, Beijing Longyuan Automation System Co., Ltd, the holding subsidiary of SANDY Printing Technology Co. As one of the earliest companies in China to research and develop 3D printing technology, Longyuan has been playing the role of practitioner and leader in the industrialization of 3D printing since 1994, when it successfully developed China's first SLS rapid prototyping machine, and has devoted itself to the industrialization of rapid prototyping application and processing services. It has successively launched AFS-360, 500, laserCore5100, 5300, 7000 and other models of SLS equipment, and has more than 400 equipment and processing service users, spreading over the aerospace, shipbuilding, automobile manufacturing, electronics, foundry, medical, culture and art and other fields and research institutes and colleges and universities.
In the aerospace field which has great development prospects, Longyuan molding provides the production and service of helicopter engines, helicopter magazines, worm gear pumps, titanium frames, exhaust ducts, aircraft suspension parts, flywheel shells and other aircraft parts for China's aerospace and other departments and aircraft manufacturers, and participates in the completion of a number of key national aerospace project development and research tasks.
In the field of military industry, which has a clear demand for growth, Longyuan Molding has participated in and completed the development and research tasks of many national key projects in military industry.
In the field of automobile manufacturing, in 2001, the rapid prototyping and rapid manufacturing process of key structural parts of automobile successfully developed by Longyuan Molding began to provide RP services for cylinder block, cylinder head, intake pipe and transmission shell for automobile enterprises; in 2006, Longyuan Molding's laser direct molding casting sand core technology was successfully used for rapid development of automobile engine block, cylinder head and supercharger; in 2011, Longyuan Molding began to develop large-size laser core making machine to meet the demand of diesel engine and other industries, Longyuan molding started to develop large-size laser core making machine; through the cooperation with Guangxi Yuchai Machinery Co., Ltd. and Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Craft Institute, Longyuan molding has developed the rapid manufacturing method and process of diesel cylinder block and cylinder head.
In the emerging biomedical field, Longyuan Forming has specially developed AFS-320 rapid prototyping machine, which adopts the selective laser powder sintering method to make solid model with polystyrene powder as raw material, which can be used for the symptoms of zygomaticomandibular bone fiber abnormality hyperplasia in oral medical treatment; and has good therapeutic effect in the clinical treatment of old zygomatico-zygomatic arch comminuted fracture. Through specific CAD software, 3D design of dental base, crown, bridge, hood crown, veneer, and inlay of denture can be realized. In addition, 3D printed heart, kidney, blood vessel models and femoral orthopedic (artificial joints, skulls, pelvic bones) models can be used as effective adjuncts to improve medical success.
In addition, in one of the mainstream application directions of 3D printing in the future, metal 3D printing applications, Longyuan molding is also leading all the way. As early as in 2000, it successfully developed SLS-based rapid casting process for metal parts with complex internal cavity structure, laying the foundation for rapid production of engine-type complex structural parts, and the direct molding technology for metal materials entered the substantial development stage, after which it could manufacture stainless steel and Ni-base alloy steel parts with a density of 100%. in late 2014, under the recommendation of the Strategic Alliance for Powder Metallurgy Innovation, the "Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology based on SLM", led by Longyuan Molding, has been developed and implemented. At the end of 2014, on the recommendation of the Powder Metallurgy Technology Innovation Strategy Alliance, the project "Digital Metal Parts Forming Machine Based on Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Technology" led by Longyuan Forming was approved as "2014 Zhongguancun Industrial Technology Alliance Major Application Demonstration Project", which became the only project in the field of 3D printing among the approved projects. The project aims to realize the industrialization of SLM forming equipment in aerospace and medical fields through the demonstration application of SLM metal direct forming equipment.
In view of the outstanding performance of Longyuan's 3D printing application service in China, the authoritative media at home and abroad, such as ECONOMIST, the official website of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and MACHINE DESIGN, have repeatedly reported Longyuan in a large space, and called Longyuan as one of China's few non-underestimated 3D printing manufacturing service providers.
Compared with traditional manufacturing, 3D printing eliminates the complex process of traditional manufacturing product molding, no molds are required, and molding can be done in one go, so more complex structures can be designed and produced, which is especially suitable for the production of small-lot, multi-variety customized products and personalized large-volume manufacturing. As the largest 3D printing (SLS) technology service provider in China, Longyuan Molding & Processing Service Center, with its own technology and equipment, pioneered the rapid prototyping of wax molds and resin sand molds, and is closely connected with the traditional precision casting, which can provide mature mold-less production process solutions for the single-piece, small-lot production of the trial stage of new products for many enterprises, and provide rapid manufacturing for colleges, universities and scientific research institutes that have the capability of development. For universities and research institutes with development capability, we provide rapid manufacturing of various complex artistic prototypes, lost wax casting molds, sand casting sand core processing services. At the same time, the efficient operation mechanism composed of the company's development department, production department, marketing department, administration department and after-sales service department provides strong support for Longyuan molding and processing service center, which enables it to continuously integrate new technologies, new techniques and new material achievements, improve products and after-sales technical services. Nowadays, Longyuan Processing Service Center has manufactured large quantities of shaped and complex parts for aerospace, national defense, automobile and motorcycle, pump industry and valve body industries.
In the service-oriented business model is quietly changing the traditional business model today, Longyuan molding also clearly recognize that, as a science and technology-based industrial manufacturing enterprises, the need for a set of market demand and the characteristics of the enterprise's own development of the service system to provide customers with specialized, customized, continuous service. Specialized service, i.e., professional people do professional things; customized service, i.e., providing services around the different needs of customers; continuous service, i.e., providing services for customers at any time when they need them.
Over the past twenty years, Longyuan Molding has been providing one-stop solutions for customers with its unique service system. Its domestic top equipment can provide customers with a complete set of equipment and services for small batch production, as well as personalized customized services for products. It can also provide the best equipment and technical means for different stages of product design and development. Through the 24-hour online consulting service and the machining alliance composed of machining centers located in many places across the country, we can provide customers with timely and professional help at any time and any place. In addition, by the chief engineer, marketing director, technical backbone of the Longyuan processing services team has a comprehensive professional knowledge, excellent professional technology and rich market experience, with good collaboration and communication skills, in-depth and accurately grasp the customer's product design, development and production requirements, and through scientific and rigorous workflow, combined with long-term practical experience, to provide customers with the most suitable solutions. We can provide customers with the most suitable solutions through scientific and rigorous workflow, combined with long-term practical experience.
In the current historic critical period of China's manufacturing transformation and upgrading, accelerating the transformation of the mode of development, as one of the most typical and widely used technologies in the digital manufacturing industry, 3D printing technology will play an unparalleled role in upgrading China's industrial manufacturing level. Therefore, it is of great strategic significance to promote the development of 3D printing technology to enhance China's industrial innovation capability, improve process manufacturing capacity, crack the industrial development dilemma, and optimize the industrial structure. In the country for the development of 3D printing and the development of a clear goal, including the R & D application of the ability to cultivate strong enterprises, and the formation of industrialization demonstration bases in the country's planning, coupled with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, "National Additive Manufacturing Development and Promotion Plan" is about to be released and implemented, all the signs that China's large-scale application of 3D printing is about to take a substantial step forward. For Longyuan Forming, which is highly market-oriented and has the advantage of 3D printing industrialized application service, it has undoubtedly ushered in a wonderful development opportunity. (Text/Jiayu)
Note: SANDY Printing (Langfang) Technology Co., Ltd. all rights reserved (2015.2.12) If you need to reproduce, please indicate the source
[Introduction]
At the end of 2014, Dr. Zong Guisheng received one of the most significant awards in his life - the Best Team Leader Award. These six words, composed of signatures from Asian employees of Pinnacle Group, a Fortune 500 company in the United States, represent the gratitude and recognition of his colleagues for his ten years of leading the team through thick and thin and growing along the way, as well as a complete summary of his experience as an executive in a foreign company.
In January 2015, Zong Guisheng formally resigned from his position as President of Pinnacle Group Asia and President of Hardware & Home East Hemisphere, and devoted himself to the 3D printing business in his new capacity as Chairman and CEO of SANDI Printing (Langfang) Technology Co. Fading the enviable aura of multinational executives and embarking on the road of 3D printing innovation is unexpected. But for Zong Guisheng himself, this is a new beginning, but also a return.
As early as twenty years ago, Zong Guisheng, who returned to China as one of the world's first 3D printing doctors, began to promote the application and development of 3D printing in China. Although there are several twists and turns on the road of pursuing 3D printing development, Zong Guisheng's footsteps never stop: after making China's first industrial-grade 3D printer in 1993, he has persistently promoted 3D printing technology in China's aerospace, automotive, motorcycle, machinery and equipment manufacturing fields, lectured more than a hundred times, and cultivated many talents and users in the 3D printing industry; in 1994, he founded Beijing Longyuan Automatic In 1994, he founded Beijing Longyuan Automatic Molding System Co., Ltd. and worked with his team to make it a leading company in the 3D printing industry with more than 20 years of continuous and focused operation; in 2013, he founded SANDY Printing (Langfang) Technology Co., Ltd. and used SANDY Printing as a holding company, successively purchased Beijing Longyuan Molding and Beijing Globally Precision Bo Rehabilitation Aids Technology Co.www.wanwudayin.com) cloud manufacturing platform, through the group management, multi-platform operation, with 3D printing technology system development and comprehensive application strength to seize the industrial opportunity. At present, SanDi Printing has completed tens of millions of financing, and operates in accordance with the norms of listed companies.
Along with the development of 3D printing in China's footsteps, Zong Guisheng's 3D printing road is also in the continuous exploration, pragmatic and pragmatic in the wider and wider, such as the deep flow of still water, the sure line and far-reaching.
Still Waters: Reality for the Best
Water, as the source of all things. Quiet, for the wisdom of harmony without publicity. In the pursuit of scientific truth, words and deeds should be like still water, clear and honest; should be refined like still water, make the best use of the situation and move forward.
The core idea of 3D printing manufacturing technology first originated in the late 19th century in the United States, to the late 1980s to develop mature and widely used. 1986, China Steel Research Institute of metal physics master's degree of Zong Guisheng sent a letter across the ocean, became his embarked on the road of 3D printing source.
The University of Texas at Austin (UT-Austin) is a prestigious public university with a long history in the United States and even in the world, and it is also the birthplace of SLS (Selective Laser Sintering), a 3D printing technology. 1986, Zong Guisheng learned from a teacher at Northeastern University that Prof. Harris L. Marcus at UT-Austin was about to start a project on aerospace composites, and he wrote a letter to the professor, saying that if he was accepted to be a doctoral student, he could consider the project as completed (consider it's done). In 1986, Zong Guisheng learned that Professor Harris L. Marcus of the University of Texas was about to start a project on aerospace composites, and he immediately sent a letter to the professor, saying that if he was admitted as a doctoral student, he could consider it's done. His confidence and forthrightness eventually impressed Prof. Marcus, and in the spring of 1987, Zong Guisheng went to the U.S. for his Ph.D. degree, quickly completing the project and choosing 3D printing as his Ph.D. In 1991, he received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from UT-Austin, making him one of the first Ph.D.'s in the world to study 3D printing.
At that time, China was in a period of accelerated transformation of the market economy, intellectuals can rely on their own wisdom and knowledge to choose the way of life, control their own destiny. Zong Guisheng held a number of technology patents, after completing two years of postdoctoral 3D printing research, he made the choice to return to China to start his own business. 1993, Zong Guisheng presided over the research and development of China's first industrial-grade 3D printing prototype and named it rapid prototyping machine, declared the national term recognition; 1994, he founded Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co. In the same year, the first industrial-grade 3D printing equipment in China passed the expert appraisal organized by Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, and also obtained the invention patent, and was successfully put into use in the Aerospace Materials Research Institute of the Ministry of Aviation in 1996; in 1997, sintered materials used for precision casting and rapid casting process were successfully researched, and Lonyuan molding stepped into the field of rapid development of complex metal structural components, and its AFS additive manufacturing was listed as one of the "Ninth National Science Committee" by the State Science and Technology Commission. State Science and Technology Commission included in the "Ninth Five-Year Plan" Torch Plan, Xinhua News Agency, Guangming Daily, etc. were published in the article, calling for attention to the promotion and application of rapid prototyping technology; 2000, Longyuan molding based on the successful development of SLS has a complex cavity structure of the metal parts of the rapid casting process for the engine class of complex structural parts of the rapid production foundation, the metal material directly into the metal parts, and the rapid casting process. Laying the foundation for the production of complex structural engine parts, metal material direct molding technology has also entered the substantive development stage.
Photo: Zong Guisheng founded Beijing Longyuan Molding in 1994.
However, the development of any science and technology industry does not happen overnight, and it takes a long and arduous period of accumulation before it can explode.
Into the 21st century, 3D printing had a new round of development climax, there are several mature 3D printing technology in the international community, the domestic is also constantly tracking the development. The country began to include rapid prototyping manufacturing in the training program of higher vocational education, and at one time there was a boom in the procurement of 3D printing equipment in the education sector. Many places in the country have established corresponding productivity promotion centers. Some enterprises relying on the background of universities have received strong support for national projects, but for Longyuan molding such a high degree of marketization of the main million industrial equipment companies, but in this wave of market development market gained little. At the same time, due to the slow popularization in the industrial field, the international 3D printing industry began to enter the development of the downturn, the global total output value of 1 billion U.S. dollars in the level of hovering for many years. After a brief period of domestic boom, also significantly reduced the investment in research funding in the field of 3D printing. In such a downturn environment, such as Longyuan molding 3D printing enterprise how to develop? How can we better promote the development and application of 3D printing in China?
At that time, the domestic status of Zong Guisheng understand, as a high-end cutting-edge technology, 3D printing technology is like a tender seedling, growth still needs time. In the conditions do not have, pulling the seedling to grow will only be contrary to the wishes of the people. This time should go to broaden the horizons, growth of insights, accumulation of experience. He has stockpiled knowledge in securities, mergers and acquisitions, management and other related fields, and obtained a U.S. securities license. At the same time, he was eager to learn about the management system and experience of multinational enterprises and put them into practice. In his legendary resume, ten years of experience as an executive in multinational enterprises is undoubtedly an unexpected and colorful part. When Stanley, an American Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, was looking for a partner in China, Zong Guisheng seized the opportunity and in 2004, Zong Guisheng entered into a joint venture with Stanley to establish Stanley Technology Shenzhen Co., Ltd. and was responsible for Stanley Hardware & Home Furnishings' business in China as a shareholder and Managing Director.
In the ten years from 2004 to 2014, Zong Guisheng was responsible for the growth of Stanley's business in China by more than 100 times, during which time he was promoted to President of Stanley Security Asia, and at the same time assumed a heavy responsibility for mergers and acquisitions in Asia and was concurrently the Chairman and Managing Director of Stanley GMT Hardware Co. After the acquisition of Stanley's hardware and home furnishings business by Pinnacle Group, a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange, he was promoted to President of Pinnacle Asia and President of the Eastern Hemisphere for Hardware & Home Furnishings.
Figure: Pinnacle Group Global Hardware & Home Furnishings Management Team
During the past ten years, Zong Guisheng has promoted the continuous expansion of multinational enterprises' local business in China, and gradually formed an increasingly mature mode of rapid development of enterprises, i.e., localization of brands, marketization of products, customization of services, scaling up of mergers and acquisitions, and specialization of talents.
This is the promotion from entrepreneur to manager, this is the leap from scientist to entrepreneur, and this is a big step from private enterprise to multinational company! This is exactly what Zong Guisheng has always recognized as the principle of "seeking the best in reality" - recognizing the reality, so as not to indulge in dreams; the pursuit of the best, so as not to be satisfied with the reality.
Zong Guisheng firmly believe that the bright future of 3D printing will eventually come, just need to pile up with every perfect today ...... perseverance, such as 3D printing to add layer by layer to realize.
Acting with conviction: grasping the macro-strategy
Duk, single-mindedness, perseverance. To act, to grasp the moment, to know and act in unity. Dugong, meaning practical fulfillment, dedicated implementation; behavior is simple, pure and down-to-earth. Only those who have a clear goal and a strong will can achieve Ducheng.
Zong Guisheng is a person who is good at seizing opportunities. During the years when he was not directly engaged in the 3D printing industry, he never stayed away from the industry, but always kept his attention and study on the industry, and worked diligently, and successively obtained a number of patents in the field of 3D printing. As a result, he was able to quickly see the competitive situation of the industry, grasp the macro-strategic direction, and seize the first opportunity when the development opportunity of domestic 3D printing came, by virtue of the rich experience accumulated over the years in the fields of 3D printing, hardware and home furnishings, network information technology, and mergers and acquisitions integration.
In 2005, Zong Guisheng through the acquisition of the first major shareholder of the listed company's holdings of the Beijing Longyuan molding shares, mastered the then still in the doldrums of the development of Longyuan molding of the controlling stake, serving as chairman of the company. Through strategic adjustments, taking into account the first Made in China is China casting, focusing on rapid prototyping casting, one year after Longyuan molding will begin to turn a loss into a profit, stepped into a sustained profitability and rapid development of the track: in 2005, the launch of the AFS-500, molding size of 125 cubic liters, that year, the formation of the sales, and the launch of direct steam removal of sintered fine casting wax, and the traditional precision casting, seamless, solving the problem of roughness of the surface of titanium alloys. Fast casting surface roughness; in 2008, the development and completion of AFS-700 molding equipment, molding size 245 liters, was the largest size of the laser powder sintering equipment, to meet the requirements of the vast majority of the size of the precision castings, the equipment was formed in that year sales; in 2009, the laser sintering sand to achieve a breakthrough. The strength and gas generation of the molded sand core reached the casting requirements. Began to develop casting overlay sand sintering molding of proprietary equipment laser core machine; in 2010, LaserCore5300 prototype development was completed, began test sales ......
Figure: AFS LaserCore5300
As a practitioner always focusing on the marketization of 3D printing products, Longyuan Forming's cumulative achievements promote the industrialization of China's 3D printing industry. Domestic and international authoritative media, such as ECONOMIST, the official website of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and MACHINE DESIGN, have also reported on LONGINES many times, and called it one of the few 3D printing manufacturers in China that should not be underestimated.
Starting in 2008, the U.S. Obama administration will be 3D printing as an important "weapon" to stimulate the return of manufacturing and accelerate U.S. economic growth, thus triggering a global 3D printing boom: the European Union has set up a fund to support 3D printing technology, aerospace and other cutting-edge fields as the focus of the development of the 3D printing industry; Airbus Europe The launch of 3D printing aircraft program; Australia has developed a metal 3D printing technology route; South Africa to support the development of laser-based large-scale 3D printers; Japan's efforts to promote the popularization and application of 3D printing technology ...... countries are constantly strengthening the research and development of 3D printing technology and its application.
Subsequently, Germany's "Industry 4.0" strategy, meaning that cloud computing, big data, artificial intelligence, robotics, etc. are driving human intelligence to a higher realm, but also means that 3D printing technology and virtualization technology, industrial Internet, big data, etc. together to become the core of the reconstruction of the manufacturing industry's technology system.
To this end, China has successively introduced a number of relevant policies and measures to make 3D printing the focus of emerging industry cultivation, strengthen the status of enterprises as the main body of independent innovation, and strengthen government guidance and support. General Secretary Xi Jinping personally instructed "to grasp the industrialization"; Vice Premier Ma Kai mentioned that "the world's new scientific and technological revolution is breeding and emerging, and the breakthrough of new manufacturing technology represented by additive manufacturing (3D printing) will accelerate the global industrial transformation"; Minister Wan Gang of the Ministry of Science and Technology emphasized that "design, material and quality are the key factors of 3D printing"; and Minister Wan Gang of the Ministry of Science and Technology stressed that "design, material and quality are the key factors of 3D printing. Minister Wan Gang of the Ministry of Science and Technology emphasized that "design, material and quality are the three key scientific and technological issues of 3D printing. Personalized design, development of raw materials, improvement of process level, cost reduction, improvement of industrial chain, applicability and popularity are important considerations for pushing 3D printing into large-scale application. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has completed the preliminary formulation of the "National Additive Manufacturing Development and Promotion Program (2014-2020)" (draft); the National Development and Reform Commission and other departments to promote the innovation and upgrading of additive technology by launching various support funds. Governments at all levels and relevant departments have also been actively planning and implementing the introduction and application of 3D printing technology in various forms.
In the domestic and foreign policy, industrial environment situation is very good, Zong Guisheng also have their own views and understanding of the 3D industry. And adhere to the pursuit of 3D printing for twenty years and never give up, and at the same time good at seizing the opportunity to jump out of the circle to see the industry's rich experience, so that he sees the industry more thorough and comprehensive.
Zong Guisheng believes that despite the rapid growth of 3D printing, but relative to the entire manufacturing industry, the total value of its output is still insignificant. For labor-intensive, batch production of the traditional manufacturing model, 3D printing does not prevail. 3D printing is suitable for the production of small quantities, multiple varieties of customized products, personalized high-volume manufacturing, especially in the manufacture of complex products unique advantages. 3D printing to help transform traditional industries, as if turning stone into gold.
It is based on the deep grasp and understanding of the current situation of 3D printing industry at home and abroad, which provides reference and direction for Zong Guisheng's next planning and layout in the field of 3D printing. He put forward the development strategy of "developing independent technology, focusing on the Chinese market, and rapid capitalization" of SANDI Printing. He believes that domestic science and technology enterprises engaged in the 3D printing industry need to learn the spirit of science, truthfulness and pragmatism in the study of 3D printing technology, the development of equipment, materials and applications.
To the distance: practicing the grand blueprint
To, achieve, realize. Far, ideal, goal. Zhiyuan means to have strong beliefs and high aspirations, to pursue excellence and to create the future.
At the end of 2014, a good news - in the powder metallurgy technology innovation strategic alliance recommendation, led by Longyuan molding "based on selective laser melting (SLM) technology digital metal parts forming machine" project was approved "2014 Zhongguancun Industrial Technology Alliance major application demonstration project", became the only project in the approved project in the field of 3D printing. Application Demonstration Project", becoming the only project in the field of 3D printing among the approved projects. The project aims to realize the demonstration application of SLM metal direct molding equipment, and further realize the industrialization of SLM molding equipment in the aerospace and medical fields through the cooperation with Beijing Global Precision Rehabilitation Assistive Technology Company Limited and Xi'an Jiaye Aeronautical Science and Technology Company Limited, driving the comprehensive upgrade of the related industries.
This is a perfect opportunity for Zong Guisheng, who resigned from his executive position in a foreign company in early 2015 and devoted himself to the full operation and layout of 3D printing. In Zong Guisheng's view, this is the most perfect realm of life value embodiment, that is, driven by a clear goal, follow their hearts to pursue a kind of freedom.
After years of practice, accumulation and summarization, Zong Guisheng for the company's development plan has long been clear in his mind, and in the tent step by step in the realization of the schedule:
M&A Growth. After taking the lead in merging 3D printing veteran Longyuan Molding into the SANDY Printing Group, we have also combined 3D printing technology into the R&D and manufacturing of rehabilitation aids through the merger and acquisition of Beijing Global Precision Rehabilitation Aids Technology Company Limited, a leading domestic rehabilitation aids company, to enhance the level of rapid personalized customization in the domestic rehabilitation aids industry. The company will combine 3D printing technology into the R&D and manufacturing of rehabilitation aids to enhance the level of rapid personalized customization in domestic rehabilitation aids industry.
Civilian & Service. Founded Shenzhen Seven Technology Co., Ltd. to focus on the research, development, production and sales of civil-grade 3D printing equipment. Developed IoT 3D printers and applied for a number of invention patents, including full-color 3D printing equipment and materials.
Cloud Manufacturing Platform. Build a 3D printing service platform, the Everything Printing Network, to provide a design trading platform and create a cloud manufacturing environment for personalized and small batch production. Increase investment in everything from photos and videos to 3D modeling, solve the problem of difficult print data, and expand the public's participation in 3D printing applications.
Core Technology. Established a 3D printing software company in Beijing, focusing on the independent research and development of core software such as 3D printing slicing software, control software, 3D modeling software, etc.; established a CTO team (Chief Technology Office - it's Office, not Officer), standardized projects to focus on the research and development of printing materials and printing systems. R&D of printing materials and printing systems, currently has 6 invention patents in application.
Government-enterprise cooperation. Cooperate with the government of Yongkang City, Zhejiang Province to establish Yongkang Longyuan Molding Technology Co., Ltd. and dedicate to the application of 3D printing technology in the fields of high-end industrial equipment manufacturing, aerospace, medical equipment and other fields, as well as the enhancement of the technical level of local enterprises in Yongkang.
Combination of industry, academia and research. Hefei University of Technology and the joint preparation of 3D printing technology research institute, Zong Guisheng was appointed as a part-time professor, and is proposed to be the director of the 3D printing technology research institute. The institute to build China's 3D printing technology innovation and industrialization center for the goal of deepening the 3D printing industry, industry-university-research cooperation, gathering innovative resources, breakthroughs in key industrial technologies, the construction of innovative industrial clusters, to create a complete industrial chain, will play a positive role in promoting.
Advocating development together. Zong Guisheng was selected as the chairman of the newly established 3D printing technical committee of China Powder Metallurgy Technology Innovation Strategy Alliance. The committee gathers technical leaders in the 3D printing industry and many "National Thousand" talents, aiming to innovate the cooperation mechanism, combine industry, academia and research, open up the 3D printing industry chain, make joint efforts to solve the key technical bottlenecks faced by China's 3D printing industry in the process of development, accelerate the technological innovation and upgrading of the new materials and equipment in the industry, expand the application scope of 3D printing technology, and ultimately help build a new industry from the powder raw materials to the new equipment, and expand the application scope of 3D printing technology. In order to expand the application scope of 3D printing technology, we will ultimately assist in building a 3D printing industry system from powder raw materials to downstream applications, and form a personalized economy of scale.
Zong Guisheng believes that there is no scientific and technological innovation of the enterprise, like a plant growing in the dark, no photosynthesis to generate the nutrients it must, the plant will slowly lose the energy to grow. Therefore, the long-term, stable development of enterprises need to continue to innovate science and technology to support the enterprise to science and technology as the forerunner, market-oriented, "Dugong" can be "far".
Zong Guisheng has integrated his understanding of the spirit of science and his belief in the pursuit of truth into the actual management and operation of the enterprise, and has outlined a 3D printing operation system for SANDY Printing, which is comprehensively supported by software, system, application, sales and service: Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co. Ltd. (medical rehabilitation aids) and Yongkang 3D Printing Application Research Institute (3D printing "innovation workshop") as the application; and "Everything Print" network (cloud service, cloud manufacturing) as the printing service platform. The overall layout of ...... covers industrial-grade and civil-grade 3D printers, 3D printing materials and 3D printing services. It stands out in the domestic 3D printing industry.
Of course, all strategies and planning ultimately rely on people to realize. In Zong Guisheng's layout planning, talent and team building is the most important core issue. He formulated the "three emperor ten" talent program for the company, clear training dozens of technical and management team members of the timetable, many of the current talent to join the three emperor printing, determined to develop together with the company. At present, SANDY Printing has completed tens of millions of financing, according to the standardized operation of listed companies.
For the future development, Zong Guisheng revealed his own concept: in the traditional manufacturing and sales model, there is a large number of design works in the design stage of the waste, the consumption of a large number of resources in the production and circulation of products, as well as end-users on the recognition of the final product and other issues. If combined with the advantages of 3D printing "personalized customization", the establishment of big data as the support of the designer platform, to create a distributed manufacturing sites around the world, through the "cloud" service, "rain" type manufacturing, it can be a good idea. "Raindrop" type manufacturing, can be a good solution to these problems. In this distributed manufacturing model, the decentralized network replaces intermediate links such as logistics, thus eliminating transaction costs at every stage of the traditional supply chain. And even the average consumer without modeling knowledge can use an online designer platform to model ideas and then print them out on the nearest 3D printer. "This is a brand new business manufacturing model, which we can call D2C (Designer to Customer), and this is the goal and direction we want to strive and achieve." Zong Guisheng has a longer-term plan for the development road ahead, and remains confident.
Photo: Zong Guisheng's 3D printed head and parts made with his 3D printer, 1994
postscript
In Zong Guisheng's view, as one of the key technologies of the new round of global digital manufacturing, 3D printing successfully bridges virtual digital intelligent technology with real industrial products.The industrial revolution that 3D printing technology will trigger is a revolution in product manufacturing, design, materials, and biology, not just a manufacturing industrial revolution. To realize this revolution, there is still a long way to go in terms of cost reduction, efficiency improvement, material innovation, designers and entrepreneurs mindset change and many other aspects that require greater development and improvement.
"Neither a bubble nor a godsend, 3D printing is a disruptive technology. In the long run, 3D printing will eventually bring disruptive changes to the traditional industrial manufacturing model and economic organization model." Zong Guisheng said, "as if many years ago, some people did not understand the network online marketing is going on at the beginning, can not see its rapid development, and now the market has proved everything through the facts. 3D printing is the same, when you ignore it, it is still growing in still water, cumulative flow to the sea, in the honing of connotation and the depth of the merit of the collection of energy. When you suddenly wake up, it has already metamorphosed into a magnificent mold." (Text/Jiayu)
In December 2014, the project "Digital Metal Part Forming Machine Based on Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Technology" led by Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co., Ltd. was approved as "2014 Zhongguancun Industrial Technology Alliance Major Application Demonstration Project", which is also the only project in the approved project in the field of 3D printing. This is also the only project in the field of 3D printing among the approved projects.
The "2014 Zhongguancun Industrial Technology Alliance Major Application Demonstration Project" is established to implement the "Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone Strategic Emerging Industry Cluster Innovation Leadership Project (2013-2015)" and the "Opinions on Accelerating the Cultivation of Big Data Clusters to Promote the Transformation and Upgrading of Industries", and to further promote the innovation and development of industrial clusters in the Demonstration Zone. The program was established to further promote the innovation and development of industrial clusters in the Demonstration Zone. After the evaluation by experts and consideration by the Director's Special Meeting, 25 projects in the field of "641" and 16 projects in the field of big data were finally established in accordance with the Measures for the Management of Industrial Development Funds of Zhongguancun National Innovation Demonstration Zone. Recommended by the Powder Metallurgy Technology Innovation Strategy Alliance, the project "Digital Metal Parts Forming Machine Based on Selective Laser Melting (SLM) Technology" led by Longyuan Forming is a project supported by the "641" field. The field includes: six advantageous industry clusters, such as next-generation Internet, mobile Internet and new-generation mobile communications, satellite applications, biology and health, energy conservation and environmental protection, and rail transportation; four potential industry clusters, such as integrated circuits, new materials, high-end equipment and general aviation, and new energy and new energy automobiles; as well as modern service industry clusters.
As a high-tech enterprise of Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, a high-tech enterprise of Zhongguancun and an innovative enterprise of Haidian District, Longyuan Molding, a subsidiary of SANDY Printing Technology Co., Ltd. is one of the earliest scientific and technological innovation enterprises in China to enter the field of 3D printing research and production, founded in 1993 and registered in Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park. Since the successful development of the first laser rapid prototyping machine in 1994, it has devoted itself to the development of Selective Laser Powder Sintering (SLS) rapid prototyping machine, and at the same time, it is committed to rapid prototyping application processing services. Through the 3D printing equipment and products with independent intellectual property rights, comprehensive technology and strong technical strength to provide users with personalized customized services. At present, the company has nearly 400 equipment and processing services users, throughout the aerospace, marine, automotive manufacturing, electronics, foundry industry and other fields and research institutes and universities. And in 2002 passed the ISO9001 international quality system certification. Over the years, it has made positive contributions to China's aerospace, automobile manufacturing, medical and other industries, and has been reported many times by authoritative media at home and abroad, such as Britain's weekly Economist (ECONOMIST), the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, and Mechanical Design (MACHINE DESIGN).
3D printing technology, also known as additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, etc., is an advanced manufacturing technology that integrates light/machine/electricity, computer, numerical control and new materials. Different from the traditional manufacturing "removal method", 3D printing technology is based on computer data design files, through the powder, liquid sheet and other discrete materials layer by layer deposition or adhesion to construct a three-dimensional object technology. 3D printing eliminates the complexity of the traditional manufacturing process, without the need for molds, one-time molding, and therefore can create a complex structure that can not be achieved by traditional manufacturing methods. The technology has been advancing, and as the technology continues to advance, 3D printing can be used to create complex structures that cannot be achieved by traditional manufacturing methods. And with the continuous progress of technology, 3D printing in the casting accuracy has been comparable to traditional manufacturing methods, in personalized, small batch and high-precision product manufacturing on the application of the advantages are particularly obvious, in the medical, aerospace and high-end industrial manufacturing applications are very future market prospects.
The advantages of applying additive manufacturing to the direct manufacturing of metal parts are: the forming process does not require the support of jigs and fixtures or molds, so forming is flexible and saves time and cost; it is easy to realize the new concept of material processing of "net forming", and it is especially suitable for the manufacturing of metal parts with complex structures to meet the limited-order demand or special customization requirements in the fields of aviation, aerospace, national defense and biomedicine; the high utilization rate of additive forming materials and the short manufacturing cycle and low production cost; from the metallurgical point of view, laser forming parts can have micro-fine and uniform laser rapid solidification. It is especially suitable for manufacturing metal parts with complex structures to meet the demand for limited orders or special customization requirements in aviation, aerospace, defense and biomedical fields; the material utilization rate of additive molding is high, the manufacturing cycle is short, and the production cost is low; from the metallurgical point of view, the laser formed parts can have a micro-fine, homogeneous laser fast solidification organization, and the comprehensive mechanical properties of the molded parts are excellent. Thus it is foreseeable that the digital direct manufacturing of metal parts will become an important means of parts manufacturing methods and the development direction of AM technology, will be widely used in aerospace and other special complex parts manufacturing and medical field artificial bone joints, denture production, skull repair and other customized product production.
As a mainstream technology for digital manufacturing of metal parts, Selective Laser Melting (SLM) is the fastest-growing field of industrial 3D printing. According to Hou Jingkun, General Manager of Longyuan Forming, the project "Digital Metal Parts Forming Machine Based on Selected Zone Laser Melting (SLM) Technology" led by Longyuan Forming is aimed at realizing the demonstration application of SLM metal direct molding equipment and further realizing the industrialization of SLM molding equipment in aerospace and medical fields by cooperating with Beijing Global Precision Rehabilitation Auxiliary Aid Technology Co. Ltd. to further realize the industrialization of SLM molding equipment in aerospace and medical fields, fill the gaps in China, and drive the comprehensive upgrading of related industries. At the same time, the promotion of SLM metal direct printing technology can not only be used in aerospace and aviation key parts manufacturing and other high-end manufacturing areas, but also can be used for medical implants, molds and civil areas of people's livelihood.
To this end, Longyuan Molding's strong R&D team is making every effort to overcome the core technology and combining its own strengths to carry out research and development of innovative applications. Dr. Zifu Li, the company's CTO, graduated from the University of Sheffield, UK, majoring in materials science and engineering, specializes in the research and development of new alloy materials, metal, plastic, resin and other 3D printing technology application research and commercial operations, has presided over and participated in the research of various types of independent innovation and high-tech industrialization projects.
In the current transformation and upgrading of China's manufacturing industry, accelerating the transformation of the development mode of the historic critical period, with digitalization, intelligence as the core of the advanced manufacturing technology will drive the product, manufacturing technology and industrial model innovation, profoundly change the production mode of the manufacturing industry and the industrial form, to enhance China's industrial innovation capacity, enhance the process of manufacturing capacity, drive the development of related industry chain, crack the industrial development and resources and environment dilemma, Cultivating new industries and optimizing industrial structure are of great strategic significance. As an industry leader, Longyuan is once again standing at the head of the tide of China's 3D printing industry, ready to develop! (Text/Jiayu)
ALTHOUGH it is the weekend, a small factory in the Haidian district of Beijing is hard at work. Eight machines, the biggest the size of a delivery van, are busy making things. Eight machines, the biggest the size of a delivery van, are busy making things.Beijing Longyuan Automated Fabrication System (known as AFS), This is because it is using additive-manufacturing machines, popularly known as three-dimensional (3D) printers, which run This is because it is using additive-manufacturing machines, popularly known as three-dimensional (3D) printers, which run unattended day and night, seven days a week.
The printers require an occasional visit from a supervisor to top them up with the powdered materials they use as their "inks", or to remove a completed item, but apart from that they can be left on their own. The printers require an occasional visit from a supervisor to top them up with the powdered materials they use as their "inks", or to remove a completed item, but apart from that they can be left on their own. They build up the objects they are making one layer at a time, as the ink is sintered into place with a laser in a way that creates little waste and can make shapes impossible to achieve using the traditional " subtractive" technology of lathes. subtractive" technology of lathes, milling machines and cutting tools.
Though it is not yet ready for use in mass production (building things up is slower than trimming them down), 3D printing is excellent for making prototypes 3D printing is excellent for making prototypes , customised jobs and short production runs, for there is no need to retool each time the specification changes. All that need be done is to alter the software that controls the print heads.
Western countries led the development of 3D printing, and the technique has been praised by Barack Obama as a way to revive America's manufacturing industries. It may yet do so. But the extent to which that revival will be brought about by the return to America of production which has migrated to countries like China is harder to predict-for China has plans of its own. But the extent to which that revival will be brought about by the return to America of production which has migrated to countries like China is harder to predict-for China has plans of its own.
Keep your powder dry
At the moment AFS is in the prototyping business. Its customers are mainly aerospace firms and vehicle-makers that need experimental designs turned into metal quickly. Its customers are mainly aerospace firms and vehicle-makers that need experimental designs turned into metal quickly. The results are sent off to foundries, where they are used to make moulds for the sand-casting of metal objects.
According to William Zeng, AFS's Deputy General ManagerA conventional machine shop would need several months to do that-not least because many of the components would have to be made by hand. A conventional machine shop would need several months to do that-not least because many of the components would have to be made by hand.
AFS It sells the laser-sintering printers it makes to others, for this is a rapidly growing industry. And some of its machines, which cost up to 1m yuan (about $250,000, can do more than just sinter plastics, wax and sand; they can sinter metals directly. It sells the laser-sintering printers it makes to others, for this is a rapidly growing industry. And some of its machines, which cost up to 1.5m yuan (about $250,000), can do more than just sinter plastics, wax and sand; they can sinter metals directly.
Indeed, one of the country's largest 3D printers (though it was not made by AFSIt is 12 metres long and it belongs to the National Laboratory for Aeronautics and Astronautics at Beihang University. Wang Huaming, the laboratory's chief scientist, told a digital-manufacturing seminar organised recently by the Laboratory of High Performance Computing. Wang Huaming, the laboratory's chief scientist, told a digital-manufacturing seminar organised recently by the Laboratory of High Performance Computing, a government research institute, that this beehive is the first of its kind in the world. , a government research institute, that this behemoth is being employed to make large and complex parts for China's commercial-aircraft program, which plans to build planes and aircraft. A scientist told a digital-manufacturing seminar organized recently by the Laboratory of High Performance Computing , a government research institute, that this behemoth is being employed to make large and complex parts for China's commercial-aircraft programme, which plans to build planes to rival those turned out by Airbus and Boeing.
These parts include titanium fuselage frames and high-strength steel landing-gear-objects that require the metal they are made from to be free of flaws which might cause them to fail. free of flaws which might cause them to fail. Printing such things, rather than making them from precast metal, will be a technical problem. Tour de force, and Dr Wang's team is therefore working on the tricky problem of controlling the recrystallization of metals after they have been melted by the laser.
Making planes is about as high-tech as mechanical engineering gets. But 3D printing in China is also busy at the other end of the market: extruding But 3D printing in China is also busy at the other end of the market: extruding filaments of molten plastic to build up objects such as toys, mobile-phone cases and car fittings. One of the biggest firms in this field is Tiertime, which operates from Huairou on the outskirts of Beijing. One of the biggest firms in this field is Tiertime, which operates from Huairou on the outskirts of Beijing. " of acrylonitrile, butadiene and styrene (ABS, the material from which Lego bricks are made). Tiertime's printers are also often used in the prototyping business, but unlike those of AFS They allow people to print their ideas directly, rather than having to send them off to be made by others. They allow people to print their ideas directly, rather than having to send them off to be made by others.
The company also makes even smaller printers, called UP, which sell for less than 6,000 yuan. Personal printers like these are helping to create a Chinese version of the "maker movement" - a mixture of hobbyists and craft producers who, finding that 3D-printing is a good way to make a living. Personal printers like these are helping to create a Chinese version of the "maker movement"-a mixture of hobbyists and craft producers who, finding that 3D-printing technology greatly lowers the cost of going into production, are creating small manufacturing companies. The maker movement began in America, but it is taking off in China too. Maker fairs are now being held in some of the big cities. Officials seem happy to encourage this, and some talk of introducing 3D-printing printers into schools, to spark the development of 3D-printing. Officials seem happy to encourage this, and some talk of introducing 3D printers into schools, to spark pupils' interest in careers in engineering.
3D printing is still a long way from replacing mass manufacturing. But in China, as in America and Europe, the technology is changing the way products are developed and made. And by lowering the cost of entry, 3D printing could herald yet another new generation of Chinese manufacturing entrepreneurs.
December 5, 2014, Beijing, China - In the cold wind of Beijing in early winter, the first and fourth council meetings of the Powder Metallurgy Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance (hereinafter referred to as "the Alliance") were held in a warm and welcoming atmosphere. The Alliance is a non-profit industry-academia-research organization formed in the form of contract based on the Powder Metallurgy Branch of China Steel Structure Association and the Powder Metallurgy Branch of China Machinery and General Components Industry Association, and the important enterprises, research institutes, and universities in the powder metallurgy industry of the United Nations.
Under the chairmanship of Chairman Caijang, members of the Council of the Alliance listened to the 2014 annual work summary and 2015 work plan of the Secretary-General of the Alliance, Dr. Han Wei, and jointly considered the financial performance of the Alliance for the year 2014, as well as five proposals, including the proposal of "adding members of the Council of the Alliance, deputy director of the Expert Committee, and deputy secretary-general", and the proposal of "setting up a professional and technical committee on 3D printing". The establishment of the "3D Printing Professional and Technical Committee" and other five proposals. Ltd. and Beijing Longyuan Automatic Forming System Co., Ltd. were appointed as the governing units of the Alliance, and Dr. Zong Guisheng was appointed as the deputy director of the Expert Committee of the Alliance.
Among them, the establishment of 3D Printing Professional and Technical Committee has become a highlight of this meeting. The professional committee was formed by technical leaders and experts from dozens of famous domestic enterprises, scientific research institutes, universities and colleges engaged in the R&D, design, production, manufacturing and sales business of 3D printing technology, equipment, materials and downstream application of products. Dr. Zong Guisheng, Chairman of SANDI Printing Technology, was selected as the committee chairman.
In recent years, national ministries and commissions have attached great importance to the technological development and upgrading of 3D printing, and industry and information technology have focused on the research and development and industrialization of additive manufacturing, i.e., 3D printing technology, and are taking the lead in formulating the "National Additive Manufacturing Industry Development Advancement Plan (2014-2016)", which is aimed at further promoting the development of downstream industrialization of additive manufacturing technology in the fields of industrial fields, including aerospace and automotive, and medical fields, including medical devices, and consumer products. The 3D Printing Technical Committee will gather leading talents in the industry, innovate cooperation mechanisms, combine industry, academia and research, open up the 3D printing industry chain, make joint efforts to solve the key technological bottlenecks faced in the development of China's 3D printing industry, accelerate the technological innovation and upgrading of new materials and equipment in the industry, expand the scope of application of 3D printing technology, and reduce the application cost. cost. Ultimately, we will help build a 3D printing industry system from powder raw materials to downstream applications, form personalized economies of scale, and realize the arrival of China's "Industry 4.0" era.
Many of you may have heard of the duck from the University of Taiwan that was attacked by a wild dog and left with a disabled left foot, because the lucky duck was later given a "shoe" made through 3D printing technology, thus regaining the ability to walk. It also became the second duck in the world to "wear" a 3D printed assistive device.
Reed Kaha, a 3-year-old boy living in Maui, Hawaii, USA, was born without a right hand due to amniotic band syndrome. With the help of a non-profit organization and the use of 3D printing technology, he was given a prosthetic limb like Iron Man.
That's right! They are all beneficiaries of the successful application of 3D printing technology in the field of medical rehabilitation aids!
In China, a company focusing on the research and development, manufacturing and application of 3D printing technology has already possessed such a strength, it is SANDY Printing Technology Co. In 2014, SANDY Printing completed the domestic 3D printing through the merger and acquisition of the leading domestic rehabilitation aids enterprise - Beijing Global Precision Aids Rehabilitation Technology Co. Ltd., a leading domestic rehabilitation aids company, completed the domestic 3D printing technology application in the field of rehabilitation aids! This also adds important chips for the application of 3D printing technology in the domestic medical industry.
3D application of rehabilitation aids to promote the development of the medical industry
The ageing of society has become a current global problem, and is particularly prominent in China. According to some statistics, there are about 85 million disabled people and 200 million elderly people in China. According to the World Health Organization, about 0.5% of the population in developing countries need orthotics or prosthetics, and 1% of the population need wheelchairs. The state proposes to take multiple measures to vigorously develop the health service industry, and rehabilitation aids are one of its important components. Nowadays, with the development of economy and technology and the gradual change of people's health concepts, the rehabilitation field not only cares about the lifelong disabled population, but also begins to pay attention to long-term and short-term external dysfunctions, sub-healthy people and chronic disease patients. The wide-ranging social demand has contributed to the rapid development of rehabilitation aids, whose service targets have expanded from initially disabled soldiers of the revolution to all physically and mentally handicapped persons, such as ordinary disabled persons, the elderly, the injured and the sick, etc., and whose products have developed to meet the needs of handicapped persons in all aspects of work, life, communication and health.
Founded in 2007, Beijing Universal Precision Auxiliary Rehabilitation Technology Co., Ltd. is a joint-stock company with the National Rehabilitation Auxiliary Research Center as its technical support, integrating the R&D, design, manufacturing, sales and service of orthopaedic products, which are mainly applied in the fields of early prevention, clinical treatment and auxiliary rehabilitation of orthopaedic diseases and neurological diseases. The company's products from the classification of human body parts involves the human torso, upper limb, lower limb, foot four categories; from the classification of disease involves orthopedics, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, neurology, rehabilitation, etc.; from the classification of the nature of the injury involves the early prevention, first aid treatment, clinical immobilization, protection and alleviation of chronic diseases, correction of external form, functional compensation and assisted rehabilitation and other phases, a total of more than 100 categories, more than 360 kinds of Products. Under the guidance of the concept of "making domestic high-quality products and building a world brand", the company has successively obtained ISO9001 quality management system certification, ISO13485 medical device quality management system certification, and has a number of internal auditors; the company has solid managerial and technical strength, and attaches great importance to the introduction and cultivation of high-end human resources, and has a number of senior engineers, senior engineers, and senior engineers recognized by the Ministry of Human Resource Management. The company has been recognized by the Ministry of Human Resources as a senior engineer, physician, prosthetic-orthotic technician, accountant, senior human resources and senior quality inspector and other talents; the company has carried out trade and technical exchanges with a number of countries and has obtained the CE certification, FDA certification and free sales certificate; the company has strong production strength, has obtained the license for the production of medical devices, production and research and development of an area of more than 2,500 square meters, including more than 1,000 square meters of warehousing area and 100 square meters of inspection and testing area, and has obtained the ISO9001 quality management system certification. The company has a strong production strength and has obtained the license of medical device production, with a production and R&D area of more than 2,500 square meters, including more than 1,000 square meters of warehousing area and 100 square meters of inspection area. The company takes R&D and innovation as the foundation of enterprise development, and has obtained 14 medical device registration certificates and 27 patents, and has been rapidly recognized by the industry for its excellent design, fast fit, safe materials, convenient installation, good reputation and other advantages, and the products are sold in many countries and well received by domestic and foreign users.
The strong alliance between Universal Precision and SANDI Printing combines 3D printing, an advanced additive manufacturing technology, in the R&D and manufacturing of rehabilitation aids, which will greatly enhance the level of personalization, customization and precision in the domestic rehabilitation aids industry. This is mainly due to the advantages and features of 3D printing technology, such as customization, local production, unlimited quantity and cost saving.
3D printing is a manufacturing technology that integrates optical/mechanical/electrical, computer, numerical control and new materials. It is a technology that constructs three-dimensional objects by depositing or gluing materials layer by layer by accumulating layer by layer, based on data design files from a computer. In the process of product molding, 3D printing dispenses with the complex process of traditional manufacturing, without the need for molds, and molding in one go. As a result, 3D printing allows for the design and production of more complex structures. With the continuous progress of technology, 3D printing in casting accuracy has also been comparable to the traditional way, especially in personalized, small batch and high-precision product manufacturing on the application of the advantages are particularly obvious.
The unique advantages of 3D printing over traditional manufacturing technologies have brought about far-reaching changes in design, development, production and technical support for many industries. In the medical industry, it is mainly applied to: in vitro medical devices, including medical models, diagnostic and treatment devices, rehabilitation aids, prosthetics, hearing aids, dentistry, surgical guides, etc.; permanent implants, i.e., the use of titanium alloys, cobalt-chromium-molybdenum alloys, bioceramics and polymers and other materials, 3D printing of bones, cartilage, joints, teeth, and other products, implanted in the human body through surgery; 3D bioprinting, i.e., the use of "bio-ink" containing cells and growth factors, combined with other materials layer by layer. 3D bioprinting, that is, the use of "bio-ink" containing cells and growth factors, combined with other materials layer by layer to print out products, in vitro and in vivo cultivation, the formation of physiological function of the tissue structure. Statistics predict that 3D printing technology will be rapidly adopted in the medical industry, and it is expected that the market will reach 1.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2025, which is equivalent to more than 10 billion yuan. Evidently, the development space of 3D printing technology in the medical field is very huge, and at the same time, it will play a positive role in promoting and leading the development of the medical industry.
M&A growth to seize the first opportunity to layout the 3D industry chain
Any enterprise development to a certain stage, rely on natural growth to achieve scale expansion is obviously a very long process. Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) is the preferred way for enterprises to enter new industries and markets, and is also an important means of resource integration within the industry. Therefore, mergers and acquisitions have become the most effective growth strategy adopted by enterprises in addition to natural growth. Through mergers and acquisitions, enterprises can utilize the existing business and resources of the target company to rapidly open up the situation and capture the market.
SANDY Printing Technology Co., Ltd.'s merger and acquisition of Beijing Global Jingbo Rehabilitation Aids Technology Co., Ltd. is a manifestation of its forward-looking strategic vision. Together with its holding of Beijing Longyuan Automatic Molding System Co., Ltd., SANDY Printing has obviously seized the first opportunity in the layout of the domestic 3D printing industry chain and walked in the forefront of the industry. Through mergers and acquisitions, SANDY Printing has realized complementary product lines, integration of product technology, combination and expansion of channels, mutual combination of brands, effective expansion of market share and comprehensive enhancement of services. As a result, when domestic counterparts are still limited to a small range of specialized fields for research and development, three emperor printing currently has a 3D printing technology in the medical, aerospace, marine, automotive manufacturing, casting, consumer goods and other industries, the comprehensive application of strength, which is the first in the domestic 3D printing industry!
In the process of development, an enterprise cannot do without the guidance of a strategic policy, so the sense of mission and strategic thinking of the company's decision-makers become the core driving force of the company's development. Behind the M&A strategy of SANDY Printing, there is also a helmsman who is planning and planning, he is Dr. Zong Guisheng, the founder of SANDY Printing and the chairman of the board of SANDY Printing.
Dr. Zong Guisheng received his Ph.D. degree in Materials Science and Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1991, specializing in 3D printing research, and is one of the world's first 3D printing Ph.D.s. He has received more than twenty patents. In 1993, Dr. Zong led the research and development of China's first industrial 3D printing equipment, named it rapid prototyping machine, and declared the national terminology, and in 1994, he founded Beijing Longyuan Automated Prototyping System Co. He has given more than a hundred lectures, cultivated many talents and users in 3D printing industry, and made Longyuan Molding become a famous brand enterprise in 3D printing industry with 20 years of continuous operation, and made contributions to Chinese aerospace, automobile manufacturing, medical and other industries. In order to improve the level of enterprise management, Dr. Zong Guisheng has successively held senior positions of global management in the top 500 multinational enterprises in the United States, and has more than 20 years of experience in enterprise management and R&D management. Dr. Zong has extensive experience in 3D printing, hardware and home furnishings, network information technology, M&A integration and other fields.
Dr. Zong Guisheng is precisely with his reasonable and agile strategic thinking that surpasses his peers, and after 20 years of precipitation and accumulation, he has built up a strong foundation to lead SANDI Printing to stand out in China's 3D printing industry!
Expanding fields of application 3D printing has a bright future
With the continuous promotion of computing power, design software, new materials and Internet advancement, after more than twenty years of development, 3D printing technology has been developing rapidly in recent years, and the application fields have been broadening, showing great potential for development. Today, we can see a wide range of applications of 3D printing technology in aerospace, and weapons, automobiles and racing cars, electronics, biomedical, jewelry, games, consumer goods, construction, education and many other fields.
For example, Beijing Longyuan Automatic Molding System Co., Ltd, a subsidiary of SANDY Printing, was founded in 1994 and was the first to enter the research and development of 3D printing in China. It successfully developed China's first laser rapid prototyping machine in the year it was founded, and devoted itself to the development of Selective Laser Powder Sintering (SLS) rapid prototyping machine, as well as to the application of rapid prototyping processing services. The AFS series of SLS rapid prototyping machines are widely used in the design and prototyping departments of scientific research institutes, aerospace, shipbuilding, automobile and motorcycle, home appliances and toys, and medical modeling industries.
According to some sources, the market size of 3D printing is expected to reach $6 billion by 2019; by 2025, the direct economic impact of 3D printing will reach about $500 billion per year, of which the direct economic impact of industrial applications is expected to be in the range of $100-200 billion, in the complex, small-volume customized parts including medical devices and major high-end parts in aerospace The size of the market is expected to reach nearly $800 billion in 2025 in terms of production.
On the research and development and application of 3D printing technology, General Secretary Xi Jinping has personally instructed "to grasp the industrialization", the state has also introduced a number of related policies and measures, 3D printing as a new industry to cultivate the focus of the strengthening of the main body of enterprise innovation, and strengthen government guidance and support. Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has completed the preliminary development of the "National Additive Manufacturing Development and Promotion Program (2014-2020)" (draft), is expected to be introduced within the year. National Development and Reform Commission and other departments have also launched various support funds to promote the innovation and upgrading of additive technology. In addition, governments and related departments across the country have also been actively planning and implementing the introduction and application of 3D printing technology in various forms. China 3D printing technology industry alliance secretary-general Luo Jun said, China has the potential to become the world's largest 3D printing market, the next 3-5 years is expected to at least double the annual growth rate.
It is clear that both the policy level and the industry's own development drive, there is no doubt that China's 3D printing industry shows a beautiful blueprint for the development of the industry and a broad market outlook. We also have reason to believe that in the three emperor printing technology limited company with such strong strength of the enterprise's leadership, will also promote the 3D printing technology in more fields of application and development!
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