“This is what the future of manufacturing is going to be,” remarked John Croft as he saw the Stratasys machine in full swing at the Swinburne University of Technology back in 1990. As he recalls his very first encounter with additive manufacturing, there is a glint of pride in his eyes as it was this faint, yet extraordinary incident down the memory lane that became the propeller of change in the Australian manufacturing industry. Determined to create a niche in the field of rapid prototyping, he pioneered a 3D printing machine in 1993. Today, rapid prototyping has changed into additive manufacturing, proving Croft’s golden words true.

Almost three decades later, Croft is working in the same direction as the development manager of additive technologies at CNC Design, a motion control solutions expert company specializing in virtual smart factory (VSF) and CNC machines. The company commenced its journey in CNC machines and retrofitting, focusing on machine tools, gear manufacturing, roll grinders, and special-purpose equipment. CNC Design has also extended into additive manufacturing through its VSF, a solution for 3D manufacturing of large parts for various industries like construction, aerospace, mining, and more. VSF gantry-based systems are among the largest 3D printers in the world and can combine additive and 5-axis machining in a single machine.

CNC Design manufactures some of the world’s largest concrete printers for construction in prefab, onsite and architectural sectors. VSF can print large components made of concrete as well as composite parts using thermoplastics. For instance, the company’s aerospace applications include the manufacture of vacuum molds using high-temperature thermoplastics (PEEK) combined with carbon fiber while considerably reducing tooling costs.

Adding a silver lining to VSF is its wax system, where clients can simply spray glass-reinforced concrete into a wax mold and break the wax once the product (ex: tiles) is ready. VSF Wax offers significant benefits over conventional mold production, as the wax from molds is filtered and re-used directly, recovering more than 95 percent of the material. VSF Wax is ideally suited for offsite precast factory environments, as it can produce molds for simple to complex precast and GRC products more efficiently than conventional technologies.

Croft also highlights VSF’s large area gantry System as a platform for Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM). The system configuration uses a 6-axis industrial machining parts and 3D printing.

They also use robots that can be controlled like a CNC machine and is highly accurate. The VSF Robot system is also offered with a printing head for manufacturing composite, thermoplastic, and wax parts.

Siam Cement Group (SCG) is one of the largest cement companies in South East Asia. In late 2020, SCG 3D printed a 102 square metre building in Thailand using CNC Design’s VSF Onsite printer. The VSF Concrete Onsite printer is designed to be easily relocatable while retaining high speed and precision for printing. This allowed SCG to print the intricate textured wall surface seen in above image. Using conventional methods would have required complex moulds and formwork to make this design. Additionally, the construction of the wall took around 5 days and required 5 operators, which is a significant saving in time and labour. The actual print took 2 days for the printing and accuracy was within 5mm.

Printed directly onto slab as patterned feature wall. Integrated cavities for services and insulation. Part size 15m x 5m x 3.2m ( L x W x H )

Croft recounts the success story ofthe Singapore Housing and Development Board (HDB), which is the country’s public housing authority responsible for developing 80 percent of the housing. The design and fabrication of concrete building elements used the conventional method of precast production, which was time-consuming and required high labor. Besides, the molds used in the construction are discarded, resulting in material wastage. Singapore HDB approached CNC Design to solve this problem with its 3D concrete printing system, VSF. The VSF concept was applied to machining, handling, and additive manufacturing. As a result, Singapore HDB was able to 3D print unique concrete elements up to 9m long, 3.5m wide, and 3.8m tall.

With stellar growth in its roadmap, CNC Design envisions looking into intricate designs where VSF wax will play a big role. At the same time, the company aims to produce fixtures for thermoforming and is focusing on producing freeform shapes using thermoplastics. “The beauty of our work is that our designs can be unlimited. Our aim is to tap into new forms and designs to help various clients,” concludes Croft.