Ingersoll Machine Tools and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are in a partnership to develop Wham, a very large 3D printing system which includes automatic exchange of the printing extruder with a high-speed, 5-axis milling attachment for conventional subtractive finishing operations. The material to for which the machine will be first developed to apply Techmer’s (Clinton, Tennessee) ABS with 10% chopped carbon fiber reinforcement.
Machine tools developer Ingersoll says it will draw on its experience developing an
d manufacturing CNC maching systems, as well as automated fiber placement (AFP) machines. Tino Oldani, president and CEO of Ingersoll, said, “Our machine design expertise, combined with the ability to develop a complete process for our customers, makes WHAM a logical step forward. Our partnership with Oak Ridge National Laboratory gives us a huge advantage.”
Wind energy, aerospace, automotive and defense will be the primary targeted markets. Ingersoll has entered the WHAM development process through a cooperative research and development agreement with Oak Ridge.
