In June, women are pushing the envelope in vehicle manufacturing, AM and digitalization accelerate sustainability within the industry, and advances in Bimetallic-DED enables copper alloy processing. Continue reading our news round-up to learn more about what’s happening in the industry this month.

Women are Pushing the Envelope in vehicle manufacturing

“The more insane the build, the harder it is for the industry to ignore us and question our capabilities.” Those are the words of Sarah “Bogi” Lateiner, who at one time planned to be a lawyer fighting for women’s rights. Now she’s the owner of Girl Gang Garage, a business built on a dream of creating opportunities for women to explore, learn, and share their knowledge of an industry that has long been dominated by men.

Lateiner is happy to be a part of this change, and even happier to expand on her own skill sets. “More recently, I’ve been spending time figuring out things like CAD and 3D printing, both of which are completely new to me. As with the women I work with, there’s a lot of experimentation and technical learning.”  Aside from what has become a full-time role (and then some) with Girl Gang Garage, she still teaches basic car care classes, just as she has done for the past 25 years. There are also more targeted workshops on specific skills like welding or cutting and forming a patch panel.

For more information on Sarah and her classes click here.

Accelerate Sustainability with AM and Digitalization

Additive manufacturing (AM) and 3D printing have proven to be extremely capable technologies for creating some of the most innovative products on the market. But even the most innovative idea is only successful if it can be made profitably.

Digitalization is a key enabler in creating a viable AM program to collect, analyze, and optimize the process. Design, production, and product usage data must be collected over the lifetime of a product. The right design toolset helps create the perfect part. The right build setup toolset can optimize the manufacturing process. And finally, the right production toolset ensures the parts emerge reliably, profitably, and sustainably. These digital tool sets exist today, and they are increasingly taking AM into the mainstream.

For more information check out the full article on sme.org

Advances in Bimetallic-DED Enables Copper Alloy Processing

Combining multiple materials in one solid part opens up the possibility to improve performance by intentionally choosing material properties in line with required performance properties in different areas of the workpiece. This benefit is accelerated the more dissimilar the combined metals are and the more the part properties can be modified.

Historically, the use of copper in DED has been limited due to its reflective nature. New process strategies have enabled the early adoption of cladding onto copper components. However, more complex geometries and the high material cost of copper make it desirable to deposit copper as well. Recent advancements in the laser industry make it possible to utilize blue lasers in DED machines that allow for the deposition of more advanced copper alloys as well as pure copper.

Click here for more on this new process and strategies. 

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