Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC), which is part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, has strengthened its additive-manufacturing capabilities by investing in an FDM-based Fortus 450mc 3-D printer — supplied by Stoke-on-Trent-based Tri-Tech 3D (www.tritech3d.co.uk).

This will enable it to fulfil more-demanding projects for UK manufacturers and develop new solutions geared towards increasing their productivity and profitability.

Since announcing an official partnership with Stratasys in 2017, the MTC has been using ‘state of the art’ 3-D printing technology to support customers’ manufacturing needs and objectives, which include engineering tooling and complex end-use components.

The Fortus 450mc complements the MTC’s existing range of Stratasys PolyJet solutions, which comprises full-colour multi-material J-series 3-D printing technology, as well as the large-scale Objet1000.

On behalf of its customers in the aerospace, rail, automotive and other industries, the MTC conducts test projects that explore the potential of additive manufacturing to overcome the limitations of traditional manufacturing processes.

Senior research engineer Hoda Amel said: “We have been very impressed with our PolyJet 3-D printers, and adding an FDM-based solution to the line-up is a natural evolution, as we look to expand our production-grade additive-manufacturing capability to develop early-stage solutions for UK manufacturers that can then be passed on to the supply chain.

"We now have access to a wide range of high-performance thermoplastic materials that enable us to explore multi-composite parts and complex tooling for engineering applications that continue to be sought by customers.”