Partners to Unveil New 3-D Printer at Humtown
LEETONIA, Ohio – Representatives of Humtown Products, America Makes and Youngstown State University will cut the ribbon today on a new, first-in-Ohio 3-D printer that will further advance additive manufacturing in the Mahoning Valley.
The event will take place at 10 a.m. at Humtown Products. The printer is part of an additive manufacturing center that also will serve as a classroom and laboratory for engineering students from YSU and other community colleges and universities in northeastern Ohio.
A project team led by the Youngstown Business Incubator and including YSU and Humtown was awarded $999,107 last year from America Makes to accelerate research and development of a next generation 3-D printer foundries used to cast metals.
The premise is to improve additive manufacturing technology related to sand-core printing. A sand core is traditionally produced from a tool or pattern created from materials such as plastic or wood. Sand is packed tightly around the pattern, forming the contours and shape of the part. Once the pattern is extracted, metal is poured into the sand mold, creating the casting and finished component.
Additive manufacturing enables a sand mold to be “printed” by using software commands, bypassing the tooling stage altogether.
Other partners in the project are Penn State University, University of Northern Iowa, Northeastern Iowa Community College, American Foundry Society, Product Development & Analysis LLC, Tinker Omega Manufacturing LLC and the Ford Motor Co.
Pictured: Aerial view of Humtown Products in Leetonia.
Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
