Nanotechnology Now - Press Release: Purdue 3-D printing innovation capable of making stronger, lighter metal works for auto, aerospace industries

Home > Press > Purdue 3-D printing innovation capable of making stronger, lighter metal works for auto, aerospace industries

Abstract:
A Purdue innovation that produces stronger, lighter metal parts that work for the automotive and aerospace industries through a new, 3-D printing technology is being commercialized through Frontier Additive Manufacturing LLC, a Crawfordsville, Indiana-based company.

Purdue 3-D printing innovation capable of making stronger, lighter metal works for auto, aerospace industries

West Lafayette, IN | Posted on November 20th, 2014

"We are commercializing a multiple-laser method to create products at the micro-structural level that exceeds current 3-D printing capabilities' structural integrity with the ability to adjust material properties in the original location of the part," said Eric Lynch, president and co-founder of Frontier Additive Manufacturing. "These are replacement or new products that could easily replace new or worn parts in manufacturing machinery, automotive or aerospace engines. The technology is developing quickly, and we are already successfully engaged with the medical implant industry. We also are in discussions with the automotive, aerospace and oil and gas industries."

The patented technology was developed in the laboratories of Gary Cheng, a Purdue University associate professor of industrial engineering and Yung Shim, a Purdue professor of mechanical engineering.

"The conventional 3-D methods of creating metal parts for any type of machinery only have about 60 to 70 percent of the current strength of an original part," said Cheng, who also is the director of the Scalable Micro Nano Manufacturing Center at Purdue. "We are finding solutions to this problem through the use of novel 3-D printers that reconstruct the parts at the smallest micro-structure level currently available."

Frontier Additive Manufacturing's technology will be able to create a finished product in one setup from a CAD design that can be used to replace worn parts in manufacturing with drop-in capabilities where no other modifications are needed for the replacement part to function as an original.

"In addition to producing stronger, lighter parts, with our technology, we will be able to make these parts in a much shorter amount of time," Lynch said. "For example, we will be able to manufacture the part all in one work center, performing both additive and subtractive operations as well as material adjusting processes, without stopping the manufacturing process to go to another work center. This could save many days on just on one part."

The technology was licensed through the Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization. Frontier Additive Manufacturing is one of 24 startups based on Purdue intellectual property that were launched in the 2014 fiscal year. A video about the company is available at youtu.be/DIwSPGJvbHo.

For information on other Purdue intellectual property ready for licensing and commercialization, visit www.otc-prf.org. For more information about available leadership positions, investing in a Purdue startup or licensing a Purdue innovation, visit www.purduefoundry.com.

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About Purdue University
The Purdue Office of Technology Commercialization operates one of the most comprehensive technology-transfer programs among leading research universities in the United States. Services provided by this office support the economic development initiatives of Purdue University and benefit the university's academic activities. The office is managed by the Purdue Research Foundation, which received the 2014 Incubator Network of the Year from the National Business Incubation Association for its work in entrepreneurship. For more information about funding and investment opportunities in startups based on a Purdue innovation, contact the Purdue Foundry at

About Frontier Additive Manufacturing

Frontier Additive Manufacturing uses multiple technologies to create a next generation additive manufacturing process. The result is a manufacturing method that goes where others can’t and can produce parts that are impossible to make using traditional manufacturing methods or other established additive manufacturing technologies. The process brings unprecedented flexibility to designs, and makes things which before only existed in concept.

For more information, please click here

Contacts:
urdue Research Foundation contact: Cynthia Sequin, 765-588-3340,

Sources: Eric Lynch, 765-413-5568,

Gary Cheng, 765-494-5436,

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