From November 19 to 22, 2024, everything at Formnext in Frankfurt will revolve around additive manufacturing and its further development. The Fraunhofer Group for Production will be represented in Hall 11, Stand D31, where it will be presenting innovative approaches that fully exploit the potential of additively manufactured components. Under the motto "Additive Manufacturing - Finishing and Refinement Solutions", the participating Fraunhofer institutes will be presenting various processes that significantly improve the surface quality and functionality of AM components.

The exhibit: a finishing process you can touch

A special highlight is a haptic demonstrator in the form of a turtle produced in a powder bed. Each segment of the turtle’s shell represents a different processing step, such as plasma polishing, slide machining, slide grinding, selective coating, machining, laser structuring, plasma treatment, milling, glass bead blasting, sand blasting, flow grinding, and other processes that offer specific advantages in terms of roughness, cost, surface texture, coating options, and more. The exhibit will also demonstrate additive manufacturing of intelligent multi-material components and automated removal of support structures.

Visitors to the Fraunhofer booth can touch the turtle segments and watch videos of the processes. This will give them a haptic experience of how post-processing gives additively manufactured components their final surface quality and function.

Examples of technologies from the following partner institutes will be presented

• Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV
• Fraunhofer Institute for Additive Manufacturing Technologies IAPT
• Fraunhofer Institute for Production Engineering and Automation IPA
• Fraunhofer Institute for Production Systems and Design Technology IPK
• Fraunhofer Institute for Production Technology IPT
• Fraunhofer Institute for Surface Engineering and Thin Films IST
• Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU

From additive semi-finished products to industrial components

Additive technologies expand production possibilities where traditional processes reach their limits - for example, through greater design freedom, lightweight construction options or more efficient use of resources. However, AM parts typically require post-processing to meet the surface and functional requirements demanded by industry. Depending on the material (stainless steel, polymers, etc.) and the desired function and quality, different technologies are available for finishing and functionalizing the component surface.

For several years, the Fraunhofer Group has been researching new methods for AM post-processing and further developing existing methods. The group is also currently focusing on technologies for the automated removal of support structures and for the production of smart multi-material components. By automatically removing support structures after production, it is enabling user to scale additive manufacturing and is advancing the industrial use of 3D printing. In addition, smart multi-material components consist of several metal alloys and can be equipped with sensors and actuators directly during the layer-by-layer construction.