Cead, technology supplier of 3D printing equipment on frontier of large scale polymer, glass and carbon fibres 3D printing, and Siemens are intensifying their collaboration and will be showcasing their latest development AM Flexbot at Formnext 2019, a leading trade fair for additive manufacturing, from Nov 19-22, at Frankfurt, Germany, on the Siemens booth.

The CFAM Prime is Cead’s first machine with their patented Continuous Fiber Additive Manufacturing (CFAM) technology. This gantry-based 3D printing system enables the printing of large fibre reinforced thermoplastic objects (4mx2mx1.5m) in a relatively short time due to a high output (average 15 kg/hr). The large system is controlled by Siemens’ Sinumerik 840D sl for precision of movement.

Their new development, the AM Flexbot, includes Siemens’ Sinumerik CNC with Run MyRobot /Direct Control, a Comau robot arm and Cead’s single screw extruder unit. With the Comau and Sinumerik Run MyRobot /Direct Control solution the robot kinematics are fully integrated into a CNC system. With this, the required precision in the complex robot movement can be achieved to enable not only the correct deposition of material, but also the milling of the part to a final contour.

This combination is now ready for market and Cead is looking into adding multiple other features to the solution as well. “By using Siemens’ Sinumerik Run MyRobot /Direct Control together with a Comau robot arm in our latest solution, we are able to deliver a modular system scalable to fit our customer's needs as many different functions can be added at any time. We are very pleased to work with Siemens and their reliable products,” said Lucas Janssen, operations director at Cead and one of the founders of the company.

After Formnext, Siemens will include a Cead 3D printing system into its Additive Manufacturing Experience Center (AMEC) in Erlangen, Germany to show the potential of large-scale additive manufacturing with thermoplastic composite materials. The AMEC provides an excellent insight into real industrialised additive manufacturing use-cases with Siemens’ seamlessly integrated digital toolchain and state of the art automation for various additive technologies.

More than 4,000 customers and industry experts have been visiting the AMEC since its opening in April 2018. “We are delighted showing an industrial solution from Cead for multi-axis composite printing combining Comau’s robotics, Cead’s additive manufacturing and our best in class CNC technology. The end-to-end offering integrated with our digital enterprise portfolio addresses an important need for large scale, highly flexible and economically efficient industrial applications at the same time,” said Dr. Karsten Heuser, vice president additive manufacturing at Siemens Digital Industries.