Matsuura, Purdue Collaborate on Convergent Manufacturing Innovations

Matsuura Machinery USA and Purdue University are partnering to advance a new approach to integrated additive and subtractive manufacturing for multimaterials — known as convergent manufacturing.

“Our critical partnership acknowledges a tremendous collaborative opportunity to assist North American customers with their evaluation, investigation and analysis of metal AM and, in particular, the Matsuura Lumex Series of Avance-25 machines,” says Tom Houle, director, Matsuura Lumex North America.

The collaboration combines Matsuura’s expertise in metal 3D printing and high-speed milling with Purdue’s well-known research experience. Purdue has been ranked in each of the last four years as one of the 10 Most Innovative Universities in the U.S. by U.S. News & World Report.

“Purdue mechanical engineering students have always been makers — from the earliest ‘Boilermakers’ of steam engines to the 3D printing of today,” says Eckhard A. Groll, Ph.D., head of mechanical engineering at Purdue University School of Mechanical Engineering. “Convergent manufacturing is the future of this industry, and this partnership with Matsuura shows that Purdue is committed to being at the forefront of convergent manufacturing research.”

As a result of this partnership, Purdue University will be hosting two hybrid additive manufacturing cluster tools for reactive and nonreactive materials for industries, national labs  and academia.

Matsuura’s hybrid metal 3D printers are said to enable the ability to “grow” and fine mill a metal component in layers with complex internal features as the layers are added, such as conformal cooling and integrated porous venting. In most cases, it will minimize the need for traditional EDM processes and provide significant savings in the production of molded plastic components. It is said the Lumex Technology typically reduces overall build time and ensures a highly suitable surface finish. Added conformal cooling can also improve cycle times as much as 50% and mold gas venting can be optimized, the company says.

The Matsuura Lumex solution enables quick-turn prototyping, producing a wide range of parts and low- to mid-volume production runs. Products and shapes that were said to be previously impossible to manufacture (including ultradeep ribs, 3D mesh, hollows, free-form surfaces and porous structures) can now be manufactured via the Lumex platform.