AMPOWER Academy

Additive
Manufacturing
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The independent Additive Manufacturing training program powered by AMPOWER

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Additive Manufacturing Training Overview

Self-paced online learning programs
and hands-on live trainings

Online learning programs

Self-paced Additive Manufacturing training programs covering the most important topics on the AM market such as technology fundamentals, working principles, typical applications and current trends. This allows single employees and entire companies can use the online learning programs learn at their own pace. In order to make sure that you stay up to date, the programs are continuously updated with the latest developments on the Additive Manufacturing market. Go to the Online Learning page. 

Live trainings

In-depth live trainings to discuss your applications allowing you to experience different technologies. All live courses are based on the online learning programs and are thus a good opportunity to dive deeper into the most important topics. Each live training can be held on-site or online. The Additive Manufacturing training programs are delivered by AM experts with several years experience in applying the technology. You can choose from several pre-configured standard courses or configure a course based on specific requirements. Go to the live training page. 
Additive Manufacturing Training Discussion

WHY AMPOWER ACADEMY

Good reasons for the AMPOWER Academy

The AMPOWER team behind the Academy combines over 50 years of experience in Additive Manufacturing training as well as over 300 international customer projects and trained more than 500 managers and engineers worldwide. The online learning program is the first of its kind that combines self-made videos with best-in-class content. The focus is on industrial Additive Manufacturing and covers all technologies and industries.

Get access to the online learning
  • over 5 hours of video content
  • broad coverage of all relevant technologies
  • Further readings and downloads for each course
  • Focus on industrial usage and hands-on tips
  • Complete independence and transparency
  • Reliable content with regular updates

Additive Manufacturing Training Online

Discover our online learning programs

The AMPOWER online learning program consists of several courses covering the most important topics to get started with Additive Manufacturing. Participants can take these courses at their own pace and each course takes about 2-3 hours to complete. The content is explained via illustrations, videos and external content in order to ensure an optimal learning experience. All courses include a wide range of examples from different industries such as automotive, aviation and medical in order to make them easy to understand for every employee. The online learning programs are targeted towards managers, designers and other professionals that are getting started with Additive Manufacturing. 

Go to AMPOWER online learning
Additive Manufacturing Training Part Identification Process
Additive Manufacturing Training Part Identification Process
Additive Manufacturing Training Metal Maturity
Additive Manufacturing Training Content
Additive Manufacturing Training AM Introduction
Additive Manufacturing Training AM Advantages
Additive Manufacturing Training Polymer
Additive Manufacturing Training Workshop

Additive Manufacturing Training in Person

Build up core expertise through live Additive Manufacturing Training

The Additive Manufacturing live trainings are designed to train a small group of people in certain topic. The pre-defined training programs such as BASIC, DESIGN or PILOT PROJECT are based on a proven concept and therefor lead to the promised outcome in a short amount of time. Additionally, tailored training programs e.g. for marketing and sales or quality management and documentation can support you in training specific functions. The hands-on trainings for binder jetting or metal specialist allow you to experience Additive Manufacturing production. If none of these programs matches your needs, a tailored training can be developed based on your situation.

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Additive Manufacturing Training Content: Process Categories

Broad coverage of all relevant technologies

The Additive Manufacturing trainings cover all relevant technologies for metal and polymer Additive Manufacturing. The most mature processes such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion, Directed Energy Deposition or Metal Binder Jetting are covered in more detail to focus on technologies the at are relevant in an industrial context today. For each these technologies, the working principle, typical characteristics and materials are presented together with leading suppliers. Upcoming technologies are constantly evaluated and will be added to the different courses once they have reached a certain maturity in order to ensure that each Additive Manufacturing training stays up to date. The most information about technologies can be found in the courses on Metal Technologies and Polymer Technologies.

Typical applications from different industries

The Additive Manufacturing training programs include a wide range of application examples from different industries such as aviation, automotive and the medical sector. The applications cover the entire value chain including prototyping, tooling, end use components and spare parts. Application examples are presented with background information both on design improvements and the impact on the supply chain of a company. The case studies include background information regarding the technology, materials and companies involved. Applications are used throughout all courses, especially in the courses AM Fundamentals, Metal Technologies and Polymer Technologies.

Additive Manufacturing Training Applications
Additive Manufacturing Training Actionable Advice

Actionable advice you can apply to your situation

The Additive Manufacturing training programs contain guidelines that can be applied to your company such as typical characteristics of the most common technologies or the part identification methodology. This ensures that the content that is taught in the online learning programs can directly be applied by the participants in their daily work. Additionally, these methodologies can be applied during the live trainings to create tangible results. The course on Part Identification is best if you would like to apply theoretical knowledge to your business. 

What is the basis of the Additive Manufacturing Training programs?

The Additive Manufacturing training programs build on several years of experience in teaching leading industrial companies and professionals. While the initial workshops and trainings were all held in person, over time the trainings have shifted more and more to remote trainings that are delivered online. The current set-up of delivering the most critical skills via self-paced online learning programs and providing in-person trainings to dive deeper and apply the content is seen as the most effective way to create concrete results. 

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Additive Manufacturing Training Content: Group

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Sinter-based AM technologies and process chain

Sinter-based AM - a technology overview

Many different printing technologies - one sintering process

The sinter-based AM (SBAM) technologies have, as the name suggests, the sintering process in common. In this process, the printed green part is consolidated into a dense part and receives its final properties. The green part can be printed in advance using different technologies.They all have in common that metal powder is bound to the desired shape by a binder. The best-known printing technologies include Binder Jetting and Filament Material Extrusion.

In this section, you learn everything about the sinter-based AM  process chain and get an overview of the different printing technologies.

Goal and structure of this course

This course is aimed at engineers, designers and other professionals that are working closely with sinter-based AM technologies. The goal is to cover the most important aspects that will enable engineers and designers to fully grasp the capabilities and technical limitations of the printing technologies and the sintering process to succeed in technology selection and part design. Besides going through the course from the beginning until the end, this course can also act as a constant source of knowledge while working on AM projects. 

The course is structured into the following sections.

This section will start with an overview of the sinter-based AM process chain and its printing technologies, followed by a technology deep dive into the most important aspects of the BJT technology, followed by a closer look at the debinding and sintering step also including sintering simulation .

The second section will provide an overview of the different materials that are available as well as part characteristics that can be achieved with the BJT process and typical methods for quality assurance. Finally, several common defects in the BJT process are presented. 

The last section will act as a guideline for designers. Besides generally describing the process when designing for Additive Manufacturing, actionable restrictions and guidelines for the BJT process are provided. The final section will present several design examples from different industries. 

What you will find in this section

Sinter-based AM process chain

From digital model to finished part

Data preparation

Simulation to compensate the deformation during the sintering step, nesting of parts and definition of printing parameters

Printing

Through various printing processes, different feedstocks such as metal powders, filaments, pellets or dispersions are processed into green parts

Unpacking

Unpacking of fragile green parts needs to be done carefully and is typically a manual process.

Debinding

Debinding describes the process of removing the binder which results in a brown part

Sintering

To reach the structural integrity of a metal part, a sinter process is required. The powder particles fuse together to a coherent, solid structure via a mass transport that occurs at the atomic scale driven via diffusional forces.

The brown part shrinks ~13-21 % in each direction.

The process chain of sinter-based technologies differs from other AM Technologies. Especially the post-printing processes (debinding and sintering) are crucial to achieve the intended mechanical properties.

Technology principle

How does Binder Jetting work?

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Afterwards the build platform moves downward by the amount of one layer thickness and a new layer of powder is applied. Again, the liquid binder is deposited and hardened in the required regions of the next layer to form the green body. This process is repeated until the complete part is printed. After the complete printing process is finished the parts have to be removed from the “powder cake” meaning the surrounding loose but densified powder. To improve the removal of the excess powder from the green body often brushes or a blasting gun with air pressure are used.

To create a dense metal part the 3D printed green body has to be post-processed in a debinding and sintering process. Similar to the metal injection molding process BJT parts are placed in a high temperature furnace, where the binder is burnt out and the remaining metal particles are sintered together. The sintering results in densification of the 3D printed green body to a metal part with high densities of 97 % to 99,5%, dependent of the material.

Printing Technologies

Metal Binder Jetting

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Material Extrusion

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Mold Slurry Deposition

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting

Metal Selective Laser Sintering

Binder Jetting is a powder based Additive Manufacturing technology in which a liquid polymer binder is selectively deposited onto the powder bed binding the metal particles and forming a green body.

The metal powder is applied to a build platform in a typical layer thickness of 40 µm to 100 µm. Subsequently a modified 2D print head apply a binder selectively onto the powder bed. Depending on machine technology a hardening or curing process of the binder is performed in parallel for each layer and/or at the end of the whole build. During the in-situ curing process a heat source is used to solidify the binder and form a solid polymer – metal powder composite.

Working Principle of Binder Jetting