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Metal AM in Japan<br />
| contents page | news | events | advertisers’ index | contact |<br />
2011<br />
Germany Industrie 4.0<br />
2009~<br />
Dominant<br />
patent finish<br />
2010 UK<br />
Establishment of MTC<br />
2006<br />
EU/FANTASIA<br />
Project<br />
2009 USA<br />
Roadmap<br />
2020<br />
2014 Japan<br />
TRAFAM<br />
Project Initiation<br />
1981 UT<br />
Austin started<br />
research<br />
Fraunhofer ILT<br />
Promotion of R&D on<br />
laser technology<br />
2009<br />
Establishment<br />
of MTC<br />
2013 USA<br />
President Obama<br />
Statement<br />
~1990 2000 2010 2020<br />
Early<br />
developmental<br />
stage<br />
Establishment stage<br />
Developing<br />
stage<br />
1992 DTM<br />
2000<br />
Concept Laser<br />
~2008<br />
Machine with<br />
fibre-laser<br />
Development<br />
of powder for<br />
AM<br />
1997<br />
OPTOMEC<br />
1994 EOS<br />
2002 ARCAM<br />
2000<br />
Phenix Systems<br />
(now 3D Systems)<br />
2003<br />
Matsuura Panasonic<br />
2006~2007<br />
Kinki Univ. Aspect<br />
2007 SLM<br />
Solutions<br />
Enlargement &<br />
hybridisation of<br />
machine<br />
Fig. 2 A history of metal Additive Manufacturing technology<br />
The history of Additive<br />
Manufacturing in Japan<br />
In the early stages of the development<br />
of Rapid Prototyping, a significant<br />
number of Japanese companies<br />
pursued the technologies that are<br />
today central to the current growth<br />
in Additive Manufacturing. As far<br />
back as 1981 Kodama, the Nagoya<br />
Municipal Industrial Research<br />
Institute, published an account of a<br />
functional photopolymer rapid prototyping<br />
system [2]. The companies<br />
CMET and D-MEC were founded in<br />
1988, with CMET offering vat photopolymerisation<br />
systems since 1992.<br />
By 2013 the company had sold a total<br />
of 340 systems [1]. Another company,<br />
Aspect, founded in 1996, developed<br />
a powder bed fusion system for<br />
plastics. More recently, Keyence has<br />
commenced the sale of a system<br />
using a material jetting process and<br />
Roland has started selling a system<br />
using a vat photopolymerisation<br />
process.<br />
There is also a strong history<br />
of innovation in Japan in relation<br />
to metal Additive Manufacturing<br />
technology. Matsuura, a machine tool<br />
company, developed a hybrid metal<br />
AM system combining laser sintering<br />
and milling functions together with<br />
Matsushita Electric Works (now<br />
Panasonic Co.) in 2003. A similar type<br />
of hybrid metal Additive Manufacturing<br />
system was released by Sodick<br />
Co. Ltd. in 2014. These machines are<br />
Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) systems<br />
with fibre lasers.<br />
Kinki University, Hiroshima,<br />
developed a PBF type test bench in<br />
collaboration with ASPECT Inc. under<br />
the Ministry of Economy, Trade and<br />
Industry (METI) project in 2006-2007.<br />
Aspect Inc. went on to develop a PBF<br />
type test bench with vacuum chamber<br />
together with the National Institute<br />
of Advanced Science and Technology<br />
(AIST) under the NEDO (New Energy<br />
and Industrial Technology Development<br />
Organization) project in 2010.<br />
Machinery companies have also<br />
Category<br />
Company and AM system<br />
Binder Jetting -<br />
Material Jetting<br />
Keyence: Agilista series<br />
Powder Bed Fusion Matsuura: LUMEX Avance-25, Sodick: OPM250L, Aspect: RaFaEl<br />
Direct Energy Deposition DMG MORI: LASERTEC65 3D, YAMAZAKI MAZAK: INTEGREX i-400AM<br />
Sheet Lamination -<br />
Vat Photopolymerization CEMET: ATOMm series, D-MEC: SCS1000, Roland: ARM series<br />
Material Extrusion Many companies<br />
Table 1 Companies and their AM systems in Japan<br />
32 Metal Additive Manufacturing | Autumn/Fall 2015<br />
© 2015 Inovar Communications Ltd Vol. 1 No. 3
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