Joseph Seif
VulcanForms digital production systems
Founded in 2015 by Martin C. Feldmann MEng ’14 and MIT Professor John Hart, VulcanForms invented and commercialised the ‘world’s first’ industrially scalable laser metal additive manufacturing solution. After announcing 355 million USD in funding earlier this year, the company is close to completing the creation of its first two digital manufacturing facilities in Devens and Newburyport, Massachusetts.
The Devens facility will house several dozens of the company’s additive manufacturing systems in addition to post processing capabilities. The company claims that the systems that are being installed will make Devens the highest throughput metal additive manufacturing facility in the world.
The facility in Newburyport will focus on precision machining, industrial automation, and assembly operations. The company says that merging these technologies with a digital thread, VulcanForms is building US-based digital manufacturing infrastructure that the founders say will define the way products are designed, built, and delivered.
The company assists customers with materials selection and product design, and then crafts a scalable manufacturing workflow in its production foundry.
In each of those workflows, is a proprietary laser powder bed fusion (LBPF) metal 3D printer that uses an array of finely choreographed laser beams to produce ‘high-performance’ metal parts with complex designs. The printers are integrated with VulcanForms’ machining, robotics, and post processing equipment through a digital thread that also monitors parts as they are produced.
Read more: Metal 3D printing firm VulcanForms raises $355 million
“Even though LPBF technology is well-established for several applications including jet engine fuel nozzles and orthopedic implants, it’s barely scratching the surface of the opportunity,” said Hart. “VulcanForms sees a tremendous market opportunity to realise additive manufacturing at industrial scale and integrate it with a digital production system.”
Feldmann and Hart were first introduced to each other when Feldmann was a student in a class taught by Hart for MIT’s Masters of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing and Design program. After earning his degree, Feldmann became a research specialist in Hart’s lab, where he studied nanomaterials and battery electrodes, where the two brainstormed ways to make additive manufacturing more industrially relevant, according to the company.
“Our goal was to rearchitect the LPBF process, and to do it in a way that enables a much higher and more consistent quality, which we saw to be the main impediment to industrialisation of additive manufacturing,” said Hart.
VulcanForms says that last year, a supercomputer manufacturer sent the company designs for a cooling component in its processors. The titanium part, containing dozens of microscopic tunnels, was so complex that additive manufacturing was the only way it could be made according to VulcanForms. The company says that it came back with a printed part two days later.
Speaking about additive manufacturing driving innovation in various industries, Feldmann said: “I don’t think there are going to be orthopaedic implants that aren’t LPBF-printed in the future."
Continuing to speak about the future, Feldmann added: “The only thing I’m 100 percent sure of is the highest-value applications for additive manufacturing have not yet been found."
Hart spoke about the impact of additive manufacturing on US supply chain and economy: “VulcanForms believes that one of the greatest opportunities in the United States is rebuilding its industrial ecosystem around digital production systems. Digital-first production technologies, including additive manufacturing and automated precision machining, enable more innovative, resource efficient, and resilient supply chains. Innovation in manufacturing is the backbone of the American economy.”
Joseph Seif
Martin Feldmann, left, and John Hart standing in one of VulcanForms' facilities.
