Apple is actively experimenting with 3D printing for the production of device bodies, specifically using the binder jetting technique: Learning about the 3D printing for the production of Apple device bodies
Binder jetting (BJ) is a powder-based AM technique in which a liquid binder (polymers) is deposited onto powder particles (metals or ceramics) to selectively stick them together to build 3D objects.
▪️ Technical Limitations: 3D printing has certain limitations in terms of size, element thickness, watertightness (manifold), and curved surfaces.
▪️ Quality and Reliability: Achieving consistent quality and reliability in 3D printed parts (included mechanical parts) can be a challenge. Factors such as material properties, printing parameters, and post-processing techniques can affect the strength, durability, and overall performance of the printed device bodies.
▪️ Design and Engineering Considerations: Designing for 3D printing requires specific considerations to ensure successful outcomes. This includes understanding the capabilities and limitations of the selected 3D printing technology, optimizing designs for additive manufacturing, and addressing issues like support structures and layer adhesion.
⚠️CRUCIAL CONCEPT?Apple is testing out a 3D printing technique called "binder jetting" to print the outline of the devices (Apple Watch, iPhone) using a powdered substance.
The printed material is then refined with milling to achieve more complex designs and shapes, and can be used to create near-net-shape parts, which means the parts are close to their final shape after printing. This can reduce the amount of post-processing required, and can also make the parts stronger and more durable.
✅ Apple is likely testing this technique because it could potentially allow them to make their devices lighter, more compact, and more efficient.
☑️ #9 Sep 20, 2023
Europe and US head-to-head in 3D printing innovation surge
thenextweb.com: [Transcription] [Excerpts] The technology has seen massive growth over the past decade
3D printing, also known as additive manufacturing, has seen exponential growth over the past decade, analysis by the European Patent Office (EPO) reveals.
In its latest study, the EPO found that international patent families (IPFs) in 3D printing tech increased at an average rate of 26.3% each year between 2013 and 2020. Notably, this growth rate is nearly eight times faster than the average of all other technology sectors combined (3.3%).
According to the findings, Europe and the US are leading the global race for 3D printing innovation, accounting for almost three-quarters of all IFPs filed between 2001 and 2020. Specifically, the US comes in first place with a 39.8% share and Europe comes in second at a slightly lower 32.9%. Then follows Japan (13.9%), China (3.7%), and South Korea (3.1%).
@tech_instigator: Last time leaks (95% accuracy) The Apple Watch Ultra 2 is set to feature a microLED display, promising a crisper, brighter image while potentially reducing power consumption
@MattTalkTech: [Transcription] [Excerpts] Apple Watch Ultra 2 Release Date and Price - All The NEW FEATURES RECAP!
What NEW FEATURES could be coming to the Apple Watch ULTRA 2 Next Week? Well Today lets do a RECAP of what Apple Watch Ultra 2 Features are coming and of course talk about the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Release Date and Price.
If you want to find out the latest info such like the new iPhone 2023 models, then please do subscribe to this channel to receive more news on latest gaming news, tech news, reviews and comparisons;
☑️ #6 Aug 30, 2023 🔴 rumor
Apple Tests Using 3D Printers to Make Devices in Major Manufacturing Shift»
bloomberg.com: [Transcription] [Excerpts] New approach will use less material and be more eco-friendly. Company is trying out the process with steel Apple Watches
Apple Inc. is testing the use of 3D printers to produce the steel chassis used by some of its upcoming smartwatches, according to people with knowledge of the matter, heralding a major change to how the company manufactures products.
The technique would obviate the need to cut large slabs of metal into the product’s shape. That would reduce the time it takes to build devices while also helping the environment by using less material, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the plan is private.
The move to 3D-printed watch cases has been an expensive endeavor for Apple and its suppliers.
A new report from a prolific purveyor of Apple-related rumors and inside information Ming-Chi Kuo is out today. This time around, the analyst confirms previous rumors stating that Apple will release a sequel to the original Apple Watch Ultra, and will do so later this year.
Kuo only mentions that the new wearable is coming sometime in the second half of this year, but it stands to reason that its launch would either occur in September along with the new iPhones, or perhaps, less likely, in October at another event. Regardless of when it is unveiled, it will sport an interesting feat: 3D-printed parts Apple is said to actively be adopting 3D printing technology, and will use that process for "some of the titanium mechanical parts" of the upcoming Watch Ultra.
Those parts will still have to go through some CNC processes, but even switching just a part of the production of some components to 3D printing will still cut production times and costs - which is why, we assume, Apple is doing it. Kuo reveals that Farsoon and BLT are the 3D printer suppliers for Apple, while IPG Photonics is the exclusive supplier of the laser components required. If introducing 3D printing into the Apple Watch Ultra's production works out well, then the company is expected to adopt the technique for even more of its products in the future.
apple.com: [Transcription] [Excerpts] Building products to last (p. 41)
Our customers use our products every day. Which is why we design our devices with the rigors of continuous use in mind — and to minimize the interruptions of maintenance and repair.
Durable hardware is central to our products. Engineers in our Reliability Testing Lab assess our designs against our strict durability standards that measure the performance of materials, components, and fully assembled products. They use testing methods that mimic realistic conditions in which our customers use their products, assessing many aspects of each device. In-depth user studies to understand how our customers use, and misuse, their products inform the durability standards that we’ve established.
During product development, we test numerous units of a product, relying on the results to inform each successive round of design. In 2022, Apple introduced Apple Watch Ultra, with a design developed for the highest level of durability to support the needs of our most adventurous and explorative customers. Apple Watch Ultra was designed for demanding conditions that required a series of new environmental and impact tests to maintain the device’s high level of reliability. Tests that our engineering team developed included a random impact test to simulate bike falls, a gravel impact test to evaluate durability in rugged stone terrain, and additional environmental tests to support compliance with MIL-STD- 810H — a standard used for military equipment that‘s also popular among rugged device manufacturers.57 This also included low-pressure testing to simulate a range of environmental conditions, from high altitude to extreme temperatures, temperature shock, chemical exposure, freezing and thawing, shock, vibration, submersion, and other assessments to emulate operations in rugged settings. Our engineers performed these tests in addition to other trusted reliability procedures developed through iteration across several generations of the Apple Watch product line.
The History and Rationale of MIL-STD-810 > Applicability to "ruggedized" consumer products
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIL-STD-810 U.S. MIL-STD-810 is a flexible standard that allows users to tailor test methods to fit the application. As a result, a vendor's claims of "...compliance to U.S. MIL-STD-810..." can be misleading, because no commercial organization or agency certifies compliance, commercial vendors can create the test methods or approaches to fit their product. Suppliers can — and some do — take significant latitude with how they test their products, and how they report the test results. When queried, many manufacturers will admit no testing has actually been done and that the product is only designed/engineered/built-to comply with the standard. This is because many of the tests described can be expensive to perform and usually require special facilities. Consumers who require rugged products should verify which test methods that compliance is claimed against and which parameter limits were selected for testing. Also, if some testing was actually done they would have to specify: (i) against which test methods of the standard the compliance is claimed; (ii) to which parameter limits the items were actually tested; and (iii) whether the testing was done internally or externally by an independent testing facility. Read more
@TITANSofCNC: 3D Printing a Titanium Part Created By Artificial Intelligence
Trevor walks us through the process of metal 3D Printing a Titanium part on the TruPrint 2000. The ONA AV35 was used cut this part off the build plate (which was also Titanium). This part is different from previous prints because this part not designed by a human, but instead an A.I.
[Transcription] [Excerpts] 3D Printing With Titanium Alloys- Titanium’s material characteristics make it ideal for many high-performance applications in aerospace, automotive & medical.
The titanium family of powders encompasses the Ti64, Ti64ELI as well as TiCP alloys. Both Ti64 and Ti64ELI are well-known light alloys characterized by excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance combined with low specific weight and biocompatibility. TiCP is a commercially pure titanium alloy characterized by having a good strength-to-weight ratio, corrosion resistance and ductility.
All EOS titanium powders are shipped with an inspection certificate (according to EN 10204, Type 3.1) showing the results of the extensive QA testing not only of the powder itself, but also of test parts built on a dedicated system with a dedicated process.
EOS also offers a wide range of validated titanium processes for each of the above materials. These offer the optimal combination of parameters (e.g. laser power, layer thickness, etc.) in order to ensure that the properties of the 3D printed part are consistently achieved.
10 Rules of Additive Manufacturing
☑️ #2 Nov 11, 2021 | Colored titanium alloy
Apple Inc. files patent for Titanium part having an anodized layer»
[Transcription] [Abstract] An enclosure for a portable electronic device can include a titanium substrate defining a textured surface and a nominal surface. The titanium substrate can include a first region that extends above the nominal surface and a second region adjacent to the first region and extending below the nominal surface. A separation distance between an apex of the first region and a bottom of a trough defined by the second region can be at least 1 micrometer. A metal oxide layer can overlay the trough defined by the second region.
Source: FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary diagram of a metal part having an anodized coating, in accordance with some embodiments.
backchannel (by Steven Levy): [Transcription] [Excerpts] An exclusive look at how Macintosh accessories are prototyped and tested.
Insiders call it Vallco Parkway. The nondescript building, just a quick hop down 280 from Apple’s Infinite Loop headquarters in Cupertino, houses a nerve center crucial to the fingers of everyone who uses a Macintosh. This is the Input Design Lab, where Apple designs and tests the prototypes for new keyboards, trackpads, and mouses. It’s stuffed with a treasure trove of precision machinery that would make geek hearts patter like a pneumatic drill. Until now, no reporter or press photographer has crossed the threshold. But to mark a new set of iMacs — and perhaps to help implement a spirit of more transparency in the previously locked-down corporation — Apple opened its doors (well, some of them) to Backchannel, and talked about its new iMacs and overall strategy.
Input Design Lab. Source: Source: Backchannel (Photograph by Jason Henry. Art direction by Noah Rabinowitz)
Apple uses its MakerBot to create stuff like custom cradles to hold devices at optimal angles for testing. Source: Backchannel (Photograph by Jason Henry. Art direction by Noah Rabinowitz) ———————————-
[Source: https://www.ipgphotonics.com/en/applications/materials-processing/additive-manufacturing] Additive manufacturing processes have now developed into an entirely new industry for producing 3D solid objects by adding individual layers of material. These processes all utilize recent dramatic improvements in computing power and motion and process control to deposit a range of materials accurately at high speed. Two of the processes employing IPG lasers are LMD (Laser Metal Deposition) and Selective Laser Melting (SLM). The other laser technique known as stereolithography (SLA) uses shorter wavelength lasers to locally photopolymerize a liquid. The term 3D printing initially referred to another non-laser process known as Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) but this term has recently been popularized and is now sometimes used to refer to the whole industry.
Selective Laser Melting (SLM) or the closely related Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) differ only in that in SLM complete melting of the powder is achieved as opposed to simply fusing the powder together as happens in the SLS technique. SLM therefore produces fully dense metallic parts with improved mechanical properties. All of these techniques use a bed of powder that is refreshed after each layer is laser fused. Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) is a related powder bed technique. Single-mode fiber lasers in the range from several hundred Watts to 1 kW are used for these applications.
The second technique that utilizes fiber lasers is known as Laser Metal Deposition (LMD). In this case, a powder is fed co-axially through a nozzle into the focused laser spot and fully dense functional metallic components can be produced.
As materials and processes have improved, additive manufacturing processes can produce fully functional molds or short runs of functional components directly from CAD data. Because larger AM components can take several hours to complete, the stability and reliability of fiber lasers has been pivotal in the development of these laser based techniques. Similarly, IPG fiber lasers at the multi kilowatt power level are essential for the development of systems and processes with faster powder build-up or powder deposition rates. It is widely thought that the use of higher power fiber lasers will therefore lead to reduced cost and lead times for large custom components.
