When the feed rod comes into contact with the substrate below, it begins to cleave and stick to the substrate through friction, deforming plastically but never melting. The technology sees a solid feed rod (printing material) being pushed through a hollow rotating device. Unlike other metal 3D printing technologies, which melt the printing material, the technology is a solid-state process that takes place below the melting temperature. MELD Manufacturing holds over a dozen patents for the additive friction stir deposition process. How does additive friction stir deposition work? Since this is a new process, our customers need to know a lot of information about the material we print, and Virginia Tech is helping us get that information.”Īdditive friction stir deposition in action. They have one of our machines and they have world class characterization equipment. And they are very important to us because they have expertise. Nancy Hardwick, CEO and Founder of MELD Manufacturing, explains, “Our primary relationship is with the Department of Materials Science. The team also hopes to develop new applications using magnetic materials, metallic glass, and shape-memory materials. Now, the U Research Group of Virginia Tech’s Materials Science and Engineering Lab has begun to lead the study of the technology in an academic capacity.Īccording to Virginia Tech, its research interests include process fundamentals such as temperature, material flow, and deformation, dynamic phase and microstructure development, and the design and fabrication of heterostructured materials. MELD CONSTRUCTIONA 3D printing technology developer based in Christiansburg, Virginia has teamed up with Virginia Tech To advance its additive friction stir deposition technology.Īfter inventing the metal 3D printing process, MELD Manufacturing continues to develop its technology, producing 3D printers based on it.
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