parts will no longer be machined, they will be grown.

Tony

http://www.arcam.com/index.aspx


This technology isn't so new. Based on 3D printing technology developed in the
'90s and refined in the "00s. I interviewed with a Swiss based firm just before
the crash, they used a laser for fusing various sintered metal compounds. The
holidays have put a damper on my brain, so the name of the company escapes me at
the moment. Inside the forming chamber is a platform that is the Z axis. A
precise layer of the product alloy is deposited, the laser then traces the slice
of the component, Z axis lowers, more powdered alloy, etc. The addition of
electron beam as a fusing means just broadens this dimension of manufacturing
process.

Unfortunately, the processes are still so expensive that only large cap
companies with serious prototype deadlines can afford to utilize the process.
For mass production, it is a long way away from our reach. The initial
investment in the capital equipment, costs of the alloys (a CRITICAL component
of the process, the metallurgical formulation and physical properties take as
much, if not more effort than the machines) make these processes hard to reach.
C. Smith