The Best Industrial 3D Printer in Mexico: Costs and Results

Mexican industrial companies are now capable of producing a wide variety of parts and products directly from computer files. The industrial 3D printers are replacing traditional manufacturing techniques such as injection moulding, die casting and turning, enabling the rapid creation of all types of parts and prototypes.

Industrial 3D printers can produce a wide variety of products and parts in less time, reducing the risk of iterative designs and increasing consistency between parts in terms of variation in characteristics. For example, in the automotive sector, the use of industrial 3D printers has made it possible to reduce the weight of components to increase the fuel efficiency of vehicles manufactured in Mexico.

With a CAD design and a industrial 3D printer, almost anything is possible. It is a key component in improving manufacturing processes to optimise and automate the assembly of components with customised accessories.

The production process with an industrial 3D printer looks like this: a designer creates a 3D model using sophisticated CAD software. The model is converted into instructions for the machine, which creates the part layer by layer, ultra-thin and ready to be used in the assembly process.

By moving away from traditional Mexican manufacturing processes, industrial 3D printers have the power not only to transform entire industries but also the way we think about how we build in order to be more competitive. One thing is certain: the industrial 3D printing has arrived to stay in the Mexican industry.

Costs of an industrial 3D printer in Mexico

The price range for industrial 3D printers is wide, from small desktop extrusion systems that can cost as little as £800, to larger ones capable of replacing a machine shop that could cost more than £250,000. In between, there is a world of medium-sized printers that can create a wide variety of parts and objects.

Getting the printer is just the beginning: an industrial 3D printer needs raw materials to transform designs into the final product. Some of the simplest materials, such as polylactic acid, are inexpensive and versatile. There are other more expensive materials, but much of the unused leftovers can be recycled for the next print.

Why purchase an industrial 3D printer?

The use of an industrial 3D printer in Mexico can help a company in several ways:

• 1) The machine can manufacture exceptionally precise parts and products.. Essentially, if it can be seen on the screen, an industrial 3D printer can produce it.
  
• 2) Industrial 3D printing disregards traditional techniques casting, moulding, milling and finishing the part using subtractive technologies that achieve a final shape by removing material. In contrast, an industrial 3D printer creates the object directly from a CAD file with Additive Manufacturing Technologies in which the piece is constructed one layer at a time.
  
• 3) Fewer risks in design through iterations due to By bypassing the moulding or casting process, industrial 3D printing can also create enormous shortcuts for producing all kinds of prototypes and industrial products today. This saves valuable months in the product development cycle and allows different design iterations to be tested on a daily, even hourly, basis, accelerating the evolutionary nature of the engineering design and manufacturing process.

• 4) The reward may be speed, efficiency and the power to change the way things are done.

What industrial 3D printer technologies are available?

The industrial 3D printer market is highly dynamic and continues to grow in Mexico. The “big five” in the commercial industrial 3D printer market are Stratasys, EOS, GE Additive, 3D Systems, and HP.

Instead of a single technology, there are a variety of techniques that utilise different industrial 3D printers. All are based on the concept of additive manufacturing rather than traditional subtractive technology, in which the item is built up layer by layer. As a result, additive manufacturing (and 3D printing) can be faster, more flexible and more efficient than traditional manufacturing.

The most popular industrial 3D printer technologies boil down to five main techniques:

• The fused deposition modelling (FDM) model: This is the simplest technique and is used by extrusion machines. They work by softening a plastic filament and extruding it while precisely moving the extruder back and forth to build the element layer by layer. Polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) are the most popular FDM materials, but some contours and curves may be formed approximately, and the final product may lack the required internal strength. This process is recommended for rapid prototyping.
• Binder Jetting Technology: It is an additive manufacturing technology that allows highly complex parts to be manufactured from a wide range of materials through the selective deposition of a binder onto a pre-deposited powder bed. It begins with a powder base material that is precisely sprayed with a curing agent that selectively hardens it into its final shape. Binder Jetting can create not only metal objects, such as stainless steel and bronze, but also silica, to make sand casting moulds. It can create bearings and small engine parts.
  
• Vat Polymerisation Technology: Tub polymerisation uses a tub of liquid photopolymer resin, from which the model is built layer by layer. Ultraviolet (UV) light is used to cure or harden the resin where required, while a platform moves the object downwards after each new layer is cured.

As the process uses liquid to form objects, there is no structural support for the material during the construction phase, unlike powder-based methods, in which unbound material provides support. In this case, it will often be necessary to add support structures.

Resins are cured using a photopolymerisation process (Gibson et al., 2010) or UV light, in which light is directed across the surface of the resin using motor-controlled mirrors (Grenda, 2009). When the resin comes into contact with the light, it cures or hardens. Stereolithography is used to solidify a liquid polymer resin by curing it with a beam of ultraviolet light.

The light source, often a laser, is precisely directed with adjustable mirrors towards where the liquid must harden into its final shape. The output is smooth with good detail, making it a good technique for aircraft parts and models for complex surgery.

• Powder Bed Fusion Technology: It begins with a powdered raw material that is selectively fused into a solid using laser heat. The beam moves back and forth, selectively hardening the areas that need to be built up. It can be used with nylons and metals, such as titanium, steel, and copper, for complicated items like pump housings, gears, and even footwear.

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