After jointly developing and qualifying a Thermoplastic Polyorethane (TPU) powder for HSS, the two companies are taking their collaboration to the next level by bringing customers a seamless material-process solution for volume manufacturing of their specific applications.

“Typically, material and processing technology work separately in the value chain, with customers having to figure out how to make them work,” said Geoff Gardner, Innovation Director Additive Manufacturing at Covestro. “Together with voxeljet, we want to remove what we believe is still a barrier for adopting AM on the production floor. Thanks to its size and speed, coupled with the constant layer time, HSS offers manufacturers an economic solution for series production.”

voxeljet will contribute its knowledge with its large format VX1000 HSS printer platformVX1000 HSS, and Covestro its expertise in designing functional materials, to develop a seamlessly working material-process solution that can be deployed for large scale manufacturing.

James Reeves, Global Director of Polymer Sintering (HSS) at voxeljet added: “This is a match of two companies strongly believing in really close collaboration across the additive ecosystem. The potential of HSS to process specialty powder materials is tremendous. By offering customers material choices, we accelerate their access to pioneering products.”

Material possibilities that the companies are considering are TPUs, which are suited well for footwear and cushioning applications, as well as thermoplastic elastomers (TPE), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and polpropylene (PP). The collaboration with voxeljet involves scaling new materials on the large-format, industrial manufacturing machine – VX1000HSS, currently accessible via voxeljet’s Early Access Beta Program.

If you are interested in collaborating in this program, please reach out – both companies will showcase their polymer powder materials and printers at Formnext 2021, Nov. 16th-19th in Frankfurt, Germany, in hall 12.1; Covestro at booth C11 and voxeljet at booth C129.

About Covestro:
With 2020 sales of EUR 10.7 billion, Covestro is among the world’s leading polymer companies. Business activities are focused on the manufacture of high-tech polymer materials and the development of innovative, sustainable solutions for products used in many areas of daily life. In doing so, Covestro is fully committed to the circular economy. The main industries served are the automotive and transportation industries, construction, furniture and wood processing, as well as electrical, electronics, and household appliances industries. Other sectors include sports and leisure, cosmetics, health and the chemical industry itself. At the end of 2020, Covestro has 33 production sites worldwide and employs approximately 16,500 people (calculated as full-time equivalents).

Learn more about legacy-DSM additive manufacturing on am.covestro.com and Covestro on www.covestro.com

Forward-looking statements
This news release may contain forward-looking statements based on current assumptions and forecasts made by Covestro AG. Various known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors could lead to material differences between the actual future results, financial situation, development or performance of the company and the estimates given here. These factors include those discussed in Covestro’s public reports which are available at www.covestro.com. The company assumes no liability whatsoever to update these forward-looking statements or to conform them to future events or developments.

Friedberg, greater Munich, November 2021 – In order to achieve high-quality parts using additive manufacturing, the 3D printing system and the material to be processed need to be precisely matched to each other. To help customers identify the ideal material for their application and determine suitable process parameters for manufacturing, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Engineering and Automation IPA, its Process Innovation Project Group, and the University of Bayreuth, with its Chair for Environmentally Friendly Production Technology, and voxeljet AG, manufacturer of industrial 3D printers and provider of on-demand services, have launched the HSS Material Network.

The new HSS Material Network aims to share knowledge and jointly accelerate the development of polymer materials for additive manufacturing. In the network’s workflow, voxeljet plays a mediating role and discusses the initial requirements with the customer. Subsequently, the connection is established between the customer and the Fraunhofer Process Innovation Project Group of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Frank Döpper.

The research and development focus of the Fraunhofer IPA lies in particular on organizational and technological tasks from the field of production, while the University of Bayreuth focuses on theoretical basic research. A common focus of the two closely cooperating research institutions is the industrialization of additive manufacturing. This cooperation results in an optimal symbiosis between application-oriented and fundamental research, which can be used to answer a wide range of research and development questions from the industry.

The Campus Additive Innovations (CA.I), an inter- and transdisciplinary think tank at the University of Bayreuth in which scientists from a wide range of disciplines, such as materials engineering, production engineering and chemistry, work together and advise companies, was also formed as a result of this cooperation. The CA.I and its members have numerous different 3D printing systems at their disposal, including a VX200 HSS from voxeljet. As a completely open platform, this 3D printer with customizable parameters is ideally suited for matching printing process and material.

“Medium-sized companies in particular often lack the equipment, interdisciplinary skills and resources to conduct their own materials research and technology optimization. To close this gap, we founded the Campus Additive.Innovations,” explains Döpper. In addition to a variety of different additive manufacturing systems, the research team chose the VX200 HSS from voxeljet. It is necessary that the manufacturing systems have open software and hardware interfaces, allowing individual setting of all process parameters and free programming of the process steps. This machine park, which spans multiple manufacturers, offers the optimal prerequisite for coordinating the additive manufacturing process and the material. “The HSS Material Network offers customers and interested parties a flexible and low-risk outsourcing option for material development “, continues Döpper.

James Reeves, Global Director for Polymer Printing at voxeljet, adds: “High Speed Sintering is an additive manufacturing technology that is highly productive, flexible and also ideally suited for the production of higher volumes. But the potential of additive manufacturing has not yet been fully exploited, as long as there are materials that cannot yet be printed. Given that we can look at more than 18,000 polymer materials, there is still a lot of work to be done. That’s why we created the HSS Material Network. By collaborating and openly exchanging ideas with industry leaders and renowned research institutions such as Fraunhofer IPA, we are able to significantly accelerate the development of new materials – and at a fraction of the cost that alternative offerings claim. Customers thus receive a fast and application-oriented solution that is specifically tailored to their needs.”

The HSS Material Network is linked to voxeljet’s Material Certification Lab, and independent organizations wishing to advance the development and qualification of polymer materials for the HSS process can join it informally. Through collaboration and knowledge exchange, the development of polymer materials for additive manufacturing can thus be advanced.

TEI is one of the largest users of 3D sand printing in the US and runs a fully equipped aluminum foundry in Livonia, Michigan. The engineering expert decided to invest in the second VX4000 3D printer to further expand its already existing capacities for additive manufacturing and quickly and economically realize technically demanding projects for prototyping inquiries as well as production orders. The 3D printer will be installed at TEI’s Livonia facility in Livonia, Michigan.

“At our facility we cover the full workflow, from printing to casting to heat treatment and machining.” says Oliver Johnson, president of TEI. “With the second VX4000 in house, we are able to further capitalize on the advantages 3D sand printing has to offer to metal casting. By eliminating the need for tooling and thanks to the large build volume of the 3D printer we can reduce delivery times drastically, which in turn greatly benefits our customers, whether it’s the automotive or aerospace industry. In addition to that, we can produce parts that cannot be made conventionally, such as light-weight components and topology optimized parts.”

Michael Dougherty, Managing Director at voxeljet America Inc. adds: “When it comes to castings for industries with very high standards, such as the aerospace or automotive industry, the VX4000 is the perfect tool to meet the requirements for dimensional stability and accuracy and still be able to produce the parts needed as fast as possible. We are very proud to support TEI’s growth in additive manufacturing technologies and see the potential of this technology develop further.”

About TEI
TEI is a global leader in the design, engineering and manufacturing of prototype, pre-production and mass production equipment for the casting industry. TEI products are the highest quality and are backed by a reputation for innovation, design excellence, and precise first-run performance. TEI is a full service, vertically integrated supplier offering a complete range of services in Engineering, Tooling, Casting, Machining and Inspection complete on one site. This approach delivers TEI and its customers’ fundamental advantages in terms of timing, confidentiality, and quality.

Cautionary Statement on Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning our business, operations and financial performance. Any statements that are not of historical facts may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. You can identify these forward-looking statements by words such as ‘‘believes,’’ ‘‘estimates,’’ ‘‘anticipates,’’ ‘‘expects,’’ ‘‘plans,’’ ‘‘intends,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘could,’’ ‘‘might,’’ ‘‘will,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘aims,’’ or other similar expressions that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs, assumptions, projections, outlook, analyses or current expectations concerning, among other things, our results of operations, financial condition, business outlook, the potential application of new technology and new materials and their impact on future business, the industry in which we operate and the trends that may affect the industry or us. Although we believe that we have a reasonable basis for each forward-looking statement contained in this press release, we caution you that forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance. All of our forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that are in some cases beyond our control and that may cause our actual results to differ materially from our expectations, including those risks identified under the caption “Risk Factors” in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F and in other reports the Company files with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, the Company undertakes no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements for any reason after the date of this press release whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

New Highlights

• Project to accelerate and optimize the production of a key casting components² of the GE Haliade-X Offshore Turbine
• 3D Printing provides flexibility to produce large turbine components near offshore wind projects, lowering transportation costs and bringing environmental benefits
• Trials of new technology expected to begin in Q1 2022

The project involves the development of a new, large format 3D printer capable of producing sand molds for casting the highly complex metal parts of different shapes and sizes that make up an offshore wind turbine nacelle.  The modular 3D printing process, which is based on voxeljet’s core Binder-Jetting technology, can be configured to print molds for castings up to 9.5 meters in diameter and 60-plus tons in weight, dimensions.

Juan Pablo Cilia, Senior Additive Design Engineer at GE Renewable Energy, said, “The 3D printed molds will bring many benefits including improved casting quality through improved surface finish, part accuracy and consistency. Furthermore, sand binder jet molds or additive molds provide cost savings by reducing machining time and other material costs due to optimized design. This unprecedented production technology will be a game changer for production efficiency allowing localized manufacturing in high cost countries, a key benefit for our customers looking to maximize the local economic development benefits of offshore wind.”

The Fraunhofer Institute for Casting, Composite and Processing Technology IGCV is responsible for casting and materials technology issues as well as digital process monitoring. “We are taking a close look at thermal management during casting, and we will evaluate the ideal proportions of the printing materials,” said Dr. Daniel Günther, Head of Department Molding Processes and Molding Materials at Fraunhofer IGCV. “Also, we will develop and test new approaches to process monitoring as part of the project.” Based on prior experience the team expects to significantly improve the environmental footprint of processes involved in producing the Haliade-X type wind turbines. This sustainability aspect is a firmly established guiding principle of research at Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, according to the institute’s director, Prof. Dr. Wolfram Volk, who adds: “We aim to optimize the mold printing to avoid extremely costly misprints or even miscasts, to save on binder and activator, and to improve mechanical and thermal behavior during casting. By developing a process that conserves resources as much as possible, we want to help to improve the environmental and cost balance in the manufacture of wind turbines.”

Christian Traeger, Director of Marketing and Sales at voxeljet, said, “The test mold we printed for GE in 2019 consisted of dozens of individual parts. With the ACC, we aim to print a significantly reduced number of parts for the full set. Added to that, the mold can be optimized in terms of functionality and material consumption. This optimization makes completely new casting designs possible that can further enhance the efficiency of the turbines.”

“While offsite on-demand 3D printing provides many benefits for small quantities of cast parts, running a 3D printing system on-site leverages the technology to its fullest capacity. Given the demand for offshore wind turbines, that will help a lot to fulfill project schedules and high market demands,” adds Dr. Ingo Ederer, CEO at voxeljet. “With our productive “Binder-Jetting” technology in combination with our experience in large format industrial 3D printing, we are serving customers in the foundry industry for over 20 years. It is our mission to bring 3D printing into true industrial manufacturing and we are therefore very excited to be part of this groundbreaking project.”

The International Energy Agency³ has projected that global offshore wind capacity will increase 15-fold by 2040, becoming a 1 trillion dollar industry, thanks to falling costs, supportive government policies and technological progress like that behind the Haliade-X offshore turbine from GE Renewable Energy.  GE Renewable Energy has been selected to supply its Haliade-X turbine for 5.7 GWs worth of projects in Europe and the US.  The company is a member of the Offshore Wind Industry Council (OWIC) and as part of that supports various initiatives that aim at increasing the production of sustainable wind energy.

Notes

1. A nacelle is a housing unit on top of the tower of a wind generator that contains its mechanical components.
2. Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a casting, which is ejected or broken out of the mold to complete the process.
3. Source:  https://www.iea.org/reports/offshore-wind-outlook-2019

Friedberg near Augsburg, Germany, June 2021 – To develop the new high-performance ceramic material set Brightorb^TM for 3D printing, AGC Ceramics Co., Ltd. has entered into a cooperation with voxeljet AG from Friedberg in Bavaria, Germany. Brightorb was developed on a VX1000 with a build volume of 1000 x 600 x 500 mm. The 3D printing system works layer-based and bonds the ceramic particles with an inorganic binder. Targeted applications for the new, ceramic material set include high-performance cores for sand and investment casting, ceramic filters, structural components, as well as art and product design.

The ceramics material with its brand name Brightorb is composed of spherical sand with the main components Aluminum Oxide (Al2O3) 80%, Zirconium Oxide (ZrO2) 10%, Silicon Oxide (SiO2) 9%, the minerals Corundum, Baddeleyite and kinds of cement. During 3D printing, Brightorb is applied to the build platform with average grain sizes of 50 µm and layer thicknesses of 100 µm and selectively bonded with an inorganic binder. The inorganic binder is characterized by its high environmental compatibility as only water vapor is produced during molding. This greatly improves environmental and working conditions in foundries. To subsequently prepare the printed ceramic for the final application, the printed components get impregnated by a silica-based liquid and have to be fired in a sintering furnace for their final strength. Most of the unprinted powder can be reprocessed, recycled and fed back into the printing process.

“We have been noticing a growing demand for increasingly complex component geometries among our customers for a long time,” explains Dr. Ingo Ederer, CEO at voxeljet. “The great advantage of the geometric freedom of 3D printing is, that geometric adjustments can significantly optimize the efficiency and effectiveness of, for example, engines or turbine wheels. It is rare that such complex components can still be produced using conventional molding processes. Together with AGCC, we have been able to optimize a VX1000 for ceramic powder in close cooperation, so that it is ideally suited for the challenging demands of metal casting. Both in terms of strength and surface quality”, says Dr. Ederer.

The 3D-printed ceramics are used, for example, as cores for the investment casting process in order to reproduce complex and filigree cavities within castings. In this process, the filigree cores are combined with conventional wax patterns. These are coated with a ceramic slurry and burned out before casting. What remains is a hollow ceramic mold in which the printed core is still inserted. Molten metal is then poured into the mold. After cooling, both the mold and the core are removed.

This process makes it possible, for example, to integrate internal cooling channels in turbine blades, thus increasing turbine efficiency and reducing downtimes to a minimum. Mr. Ushimaru, Additive Manufacturing Director from AGCC is also satisfied: “Brightorb is a high-performance ceramic that is extremely well suited for metal casting due to its high-chemical stability, heat resistance, thermal conductivity and low thermal expansion. We were able to optimize the material set in such a way that the shrinkage factor of the printed components during the downstream sintering process at 1,400°C is less than 1%. This means that the components are also suitable for filigree core designs. Thanks to the high-fire resistance, it is possible to cast alloys with melting points beyond 1,600°C. Overall, ceramics will continue to gain importance as a material in the future, and the same applies to 3D printing as a manufacturing technology. We are pleased to have embarked on this path together with voxeljet and look forward to further close cooperation.”