In case you are only used to topographically designed airplane brackets and latticed heat exchangers, you are yet to see more. 3D printing discovery comes in several forms according to a recent discovery by FIT AG during a project approved by a young parish church in Altmühldorf, Upper Bavaria.
Project Engineer at FIT AG, Bruno Knychalla, said this: “Inside our own company, we opened up a lot of eyes. It doesn’t always need to be a purely technical application so that 3D printing shines.” Knychalla led the technical advancement for a different retable statue at St. Laurentius parish church.
“Sometimes this new form of freedom can open up new possibilities that you yourself didn’t even think of,” he added.
The building, a grand, topology enhanced 8-meter-high gleaming framework that lies as the central point of the chapel altar is called Empfangshalle. It was created by Oliver Tessin and designer duo Michael Gruber and Corbinian Böhm, as a component of the renovation project of the church last Spring.
The design is inspired by the basic theory of Gothic architecture changing the design principles of nature that can be located in the pointed arcs and ribbed monument of the church. Instead of being a matter of technology connecting with the old, the designers saw the chantry as more of a succession of a centuries-old culture throughout sites of cultural heritage utilizing the newest architectural methods.
With a sharp imagination and additive now in mind, especially Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing Tessin got to FIT after a speech Knychalla presented at the Technical University of Munich. Moved to WAAM’s novel presentation and haptic attributes, the designers had then requested several service providers. However, there were inquiries about the practicability of geometric, cost, limitations and the endurance of WAAM pieces.
Serving with FIT AG’s crew in Germany, they got a chance to experiment with several AM provider’s internal procedures. This includes hybrid production approaches but, laser sintering, with a substantial build program providing strong mechanical attributes, lessened load, and design liberty, emerged top.
“[WAAM] has a really fascinating surface […] but we showed them that through coating technologies we can also achieve a completely novel look,” says Knychalla. “We knew that there was no way to fabricate the design in one piece. We had to look at which is the most effective and economic way to fabricate it. We developed a concept, where an optimized core was generated, representing the geometry, that was then coated with a structural coating.”
In the beginning, ceramic and metal materials were thought to be the top option for this kind of architectural design. The crew chose to produce the construction in a white polyamide particle on an EOS P 700. An entirety of 60 single pieces were printed and accumulated to boost space in the structure chamber. After assembly, they were then covered in a skeletal bronze-aluminum metal utilizing a thermal spewing method and a metallic veneer to make a glowing metallic polish.
