HyFAM Combines Additive and Formative Manufacturing to Create Complex Parts 20 Times Faster

What if it were possible to combine additive and formative manufacturing in a single system? While many machines can change tool heads, offering hybrid production, a team of researchers from the Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering has developed a method that combines quality and speed. Called Hybrid Formative-Additive Manufacturing (HyFAM), this hybrid approach uses an extrusion system to 3D print complex geometries that can then be filled by molding or casting. The marriage of these two processes is particularly advantageous: it is possible to create complex shapes with greater detail where required, while at the same time being able to fill less precise areas more efficiently.

As we all know, 3D printing still faces a number of obstacles, including speed and defects such as inefficient filling, warping and internal voids. Indeed, while additive manufacturing offers a high level of detail, this is not always required throughout the part. Team member Nathan Brown explains: “Additive manufacturing offers significant detail, but when you use a small nozzle to achieve it, the entire process slows down. This becomes a real hinderance [sic] in parts with large internal features and widely-varying feature sizes.”

The HyFAM method combines the advantages of additive manufacturing with those of formative manufacturing

The researchers, led by Professor Jochen Mueller, have therefore developed an extrusion system with two reservoirs: the first is used to deposit the desired material layer by layer, like an FDM 3D printer. The second is used to fill the model created with another material. This filling stage can be used for one, several or all layers.