Customizable, large-format 3D printing for end-use parts

Original article appeared in the Wednesday October 19th, 2022 CAMX Show Daily by CompositesWorld .

Composites World's Hannah Mason and AES's Co-founder & VP, Andrew Bader , discuss large 3D printed end-use parts at the 2022 CAMX show.

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Additive Engineering Solutions (AES, Akron, Ohio, U.S.) has on display its capabilities for large-format 3D printing tooling, prototypes and end-use parts for the composites industry.

“Additive manufacturing [AM] isn’t just for tooling and prototypes,” explains Andrew Bader, VP and co-founder of AES. “We can make high-quality end-use parts. This is especially useful for low-volume, high-complexity parts, and parts that need a high degree of customization.”

With its Cincinnati Inc. (Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.) Big-Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) technology, AES fabricates fiber-filled thermoplastic parts, with the ability to adjust the print bead size for high-fidelity end-use parts or lower-fidelity molds/tools. Fiberglass can also be used, Bader explains, or carbon fiber textiles can be molded over top of the 3D printed part to add additional strength. Connection points and other features can also be easily printed into the part.

AES’ work on end-use parts includes customizable fairings for autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV) — much of which needs to be highly customizable per customer — transportation pallets and more.