Markforged
Markforged is the leader in composite and Metal FFF 3D printing technology. With over 12,000 printers at thousands of customers, and millions of parts printed annually, we aim to reinvent manufacturing and solve supply chain issues and cut costs for our customers. Markforged creates state-of-the-art printers, manufactures high-performance materials and designs highly-tuned software to all work seamlessly and make 3D printing easily accessible and an industrial solution.
Additive Manufacturing: Metal & Continuous Fiber Composite 3D Printing
Markforged’s hallmark composites hardware and materials technology—continuous fiber reinforcement (CFR)—combines thermoplastic material extrusion of a composite base, also known as fused filament fabrication (FFF), with extrusion of thermoplastic pre-pregged continuous fiber filament. Markforged CFR is currently utilized for end-use parts in various industries including defense, aerospace, manufacturing tooling, and automotive. CFR is available on Markforged printers including the Desktop Series (Onyx Pro, Mark Two) and Industrial Series (X5, X7, X7 Field Edition, and FX20). Markforged’s metal printing platform, the MetalX, also uses FFF (fused filament fabrication) technology to create functional metal parts in stainless steels, tool steels, Inconel® and copper in a low cost and easy-to-use and operate platform.
Problem Statement:
- Custom tooling and spare parts for ships, ground vehicles & aircraft are hard to find and expensive to acquire.
- Supply-chain disruptions for the global warfighter create difficult challenges.
- Quick-turn solutions in support of maintenance and repair operations are needed.
- Point-of-need manufacturing for forward-deployed troops are needed.
Technology Solution Statement:
The Markforged Continuous Fiber Reinforcement technology creates aluminum-strength parts from composite-printed materials. This allows for strong, lightweight, and non-marring tools to be quickly printed and used in MRO. Markforged has a forward-deployable version of our printer that comes packed in a pelican case for easy mobility and setup, which is used by the DOD for point-of-need printing. In addition, Markforged has Flame-Retardant, chemical-resistive and electro-static dissipative materials that come with traceability and are currently being used as end-use parts in aircraft and ground vehicles and ships.
Benefits Statement:
- Ultimate throughput in large- and small-scale maintenance depots is improved by speeding manufacturing of needed parts.
- Maintenance teams now have capability to fabricate complex parts that are difficult or impossible to machine.
- The US Naval Shipyards are currently running a metal printing pilot based on the Markforged MetalX, which is paving the way for further adoption of Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology.
- Markforged is prepared to engage the USN in joint R&D efforts and is currently participating in two CRADAs.
Contact
Melissa Lavey
melissa.lavey@markforged.com
323-336-0498