New Metal-Forming Technology Creates Design Freedom
Precise bending channels can be manufactured within a structure
Doug Smock, Contributing Editor -- Design News, May 12, 2009
A new metal-forming technology allows mechanical designs never before possible with traditional manufacturing processes.
Called MQast, the process uses additive fabrication to form intricate, bending channels and very tight tolerances from fully dense aluminum or stainless steel. One potential use could be microfluidic channels in the tips of channels manufactured for surgical instruments.
"This should really open up design," says Scott Turner, president of Scicon Technologies of Valencia, CA. "We don't want engineers to think about the constraints of a process. We want them to make the best possible design and then tell us to make it."
Scicon, a rapid prototyping and manufacturing service bureau, partnered with 3D Systems of Rock Hill, SC, to form MQast, a new company based in Valencia, CA.
The new metal-forming technology is based on research originally done by Charles W. Hull, the chief technology officer of 3D Systems and the inventor of stereolithography, creating the rapid prototyping industry in the 1980s.
"The MQast process delivers aluminum or stainless steel parts directly from CAD in days, and the parts are ideally suited for aerospace, medical and automotive applications," says Hull.
The technology was announced at Rapid 2009, an industry conference being held in Schaumburg, IL.
Officials would not disclose any of the technology or equipment used in MQast, although the technology is based on additive systems that build layers of material in tiny increments. The process is best for complex designs, and is usually only economic in low volumes. However, MQast could become a series process if no exisiting technology such as injection molding or casting can replicate the design. One of the benefits of additive fabrication is that no molds are required and parts can be delivered quickly. Disadvantages are that individual part production is slow and materials can be expensive.
The current build envelope is a 10-inch square. Orders can be placed on line using .stl files at www.mqast.com.
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