The precision manufacturing industry has stringent standards for dimensional accuracy, surface quality and mechanical properties of parts. However, conventional machining technologies face significant challenges in handling complex designs, shortening manufacturing cycles, and improving material utilization efficiency, making it challenging to efficiently produce precision low-volume products and meet customization needs.

Especially when processing special materials such as PEEK, the limitations of traditional methods are more obvious due to their high machining difficulty and demanding requirements for equipment, which restricts the development of the precision manufacturing field.

The Apium P220 and P400 3D printers offer an efficient and practical solution to the many challenges of precision manufacturing, especially in the pursuit of high precision, excellent surface quality and superior mechanical properties.

Figure 1: Photomicrograph of a 3D printed coupling hub

Apium P220 adopts advanced Fused Layer Deposition Manufacturing (FDM) technology to achieve fine printing results. Taking the production case of the coupling hub in the picture as an example, the thread pull-out torque printed with Apium P220 reaches 19Nm, which is far more than the minimum requirement of 4Nm, which is a good proof of the P220's efficient ability to meet the requirements of precision manufacturing, especially in terms of accuracy and surface quality.

Figure 2: Mounting position of the coupling hub with shaft and coupling socket

The Apium P400, on the other hand, achieves significant enhancements on a technical level, such as its new generation of zone-following heating system and high-temperature printing capability up to 540°C, which enables the Apium P400 to efficiently print high-performance engineering plastics such as PEEK. Such features ensure that the mechanical properties of printed parts are comparable to those of conventional profiles, meeting the high standards required in precision manufacturing. In addition, the Apium P400's closed and stabilized heating environment and research and production in one unit are critical to maintaining consistent print quality, especially in precision manufacturing, where such consistency and reliability are especially important.

When faced with the challenges of precision manufacturing, the Apium P220 and P400 demonstrate their significant advantages in rapid prototyping and low-volume production. These two 3D printers effectively shorten the time to design verification and significantly reduce production costs, thus increasing overall productivity.

Taking the printing of coupling hubs as an example, the efficient performance of Apium P220 in terms of shortening the design verification cycle and cost reduction has been practically proven. As shown in Figure 3, compared to traditional machining, Apium P220's single-piece manufacturing cost is only 64% of machining, thus significantly improving cost-effectiveness.

Apium P220 demonstrates the advantages of flexibility in the manufacturing process, especially when compared to selective laser sintering (SLM) technology. the ability to create precision threads with a simple post-processing step not only demonstrates the advantages of Apium P220's adaptability to manufacturing, but also its superiority in handling complex designs.

Further, the cost-effectiveness of the Apium P220 and P400 will be even more evident in more complex workpiece 3D printing applications.Apium's 3D printing technology, which combines advanced printing technology and a precise environmental control system, provides an efficient, cost-effective and customized solution for precision manufacturing. This one-stop strategy not only effectively solves the multiple challenges of precision manufacturing, but also opens up a wide range of applications for the "smart" production of a variety of complex components.

Graphic source：www.apiumtec.com