Additive Manufacturing – Industrial 3D Printing Services

3D printing is a great technological revolution that has overturned traditional processing methods and promoted free and personalized design. Compared with traditional subtractive manufacturing (milling), 3D printing is a technology that manufactures products by stacking materials. It directly builds the product itself through a digital model. Parts that cannot be manufactured by traditional milling, such as hollow products, can now be completed using highly flexible 3D printing technology.

As an advanced 3D printing company, AIXI currently has extensive experience in 3D printing plastics, including resins, nylon, PLA, PETG, PC, and other plastics. If you need to process glass fiber to enhance hardness, we can also do it through vacuum casting. Regarding the printing of stainless steel and aluminum alloys, we also have established partners who can fulfill this requirement. If you also have this need, you can get a one-stop printing service at AIXI.

Metal-3D-Printing-Materials

Advantages of 3D Printing Solution

1. Compared to mold and CNC machining, 3D printing is the most cost-effective way to produce prototypes and small batch productions, as the cost of materials primarily drives it.

2. Being able to make more complex and hollow products is one of the biggest advantages of 3D printing.

3. The processing time of 3D printing is very fast, and the error rate is very low. It is printed directly according to the 3D drawings designed by the customer. The mold and CNC require pre-programming, design inspection, production fixtures, and other related processes.

4. 3D printing wastes almost no material, using only as much material as necessary for printing, whereas CNC machining generates significant material waste.

Contact Us

Types of 3D Printing Technologies

AIXI provides high-quality rapid prototyping services. We not only offer unique processing methods for CNC milling (subtractive manufacturing) but also provide high-quality additive manufacturing services, including FDM, SLA, SLS, and SLM printing technologies. These technologies offer significant advantages in prototyping, small-batch services, and design verification.

FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)

FDM (Fused Deposition Modeling)

FDM is a melt extrusion molding technology. It uses a roll of filamentary thermoplastic material (such as PLA or ABS) as a raw material, melts the material through a heated nozzle, and gradually stacks it layer by layer to build a three-dimensional object.

During the printing process, the nozzle moves precisely in the X-Y axis plane while adjusting the Z-axis height. The extruded molten plastic solidifies quickly in the air, and the materials are firmly bonded to each other to form the desired shape.

Contact Us
SLA (Stereolithography)

SLA (Stereolithography)

SLA is a photocuring technology, also known as light modeling technology. It uses ultraviolet lasers to accurately solidify liquid photosensitive resins and stack materials layer by layer, forming three-dimensional objects. Products made with SLA have higher precision and smoother surfaces.

The core principle of SLA is to divide the 3D file into a large number of thin layers (with a thickness of 0.05 mm to 0.1 mm) and then print them layer by layer. After printing a layer, the platform drops a layer to allow the new resin liquid surface to cover the solidified part. Then, the laser continues to scan the next layer, and so on, until the object is printed.

Contact Us

SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)

SLS is a technology that uses high-power lasers to melt powder materials layer by layer to form complex three-dimensional objects. Unlike other technologies, SLS does not require additional support structures, and the powder itself can play a supporting role. Because the parts printed by SLS have good strength and mechanical properties, they are often used in functional parts and fast-iteration industrial scenarios.

Like other printing technologies, when a layer is printed, the printing platform drops, and the powder spreading and sintering process is repeated until the part is completely printed. After printing, we remove the part from the powder, clean the operating platform, and the excess powder can be recycled for reuse. Finally, we usually remove burrs and polish the parts.

Contact Us
SLM (Selective Laser Melting)

SLM (Selective Laser Melting)

Selective laser melting (SLM) is a unique metal 3D printing technology. It completely melts metal powder using a laser in a closed, inert gas (such as argon) container and forms it layer by layer. Metal parts printed by SLM have high strength and density and are widely used in high-end fields such as aerospace, automotive, and medical.

Unlike SLS, SLM can completely melt metal. Common printed metal powder materials include stainless steel 316L, aluminum alloy (AlSi10Mg), titanium alloy (Ti6Al4V), etc. SLM can print complex structural parts that are usually beyond the reach of CNC machining, such as internal flow channels and lattice structure parts.

Contact Us

Materials of AIXI 3D Priting Manufacturing

3D printing is a new technology that constantly updates new materials every year. AIXI can provide printing services for a wide range of common metal and plastic materials, including stainless steel, aluminum alloy, nylon, and resin. If you also have other types of materials, please contact us.

Plastic 3D Printing Materials

  • Resin: Resin is a plastic polymer liquid compound that can be cured into a hard solid by ultraviolet irradiation. It is usually used for the manufacture of parts with high precision and complex structures and is also often used for rapid confirmation of designs to ensure the accuracy of mass production.
  • PLA: PLA is fermented from renewable resources, including cornstarch and sugarcane. It is a biodegradable thermoplastic and the most commonly used material for FDM printing. The parts printed with PLA material have a smooth surface, are suitable for precision parts, and are non-toxic and environmentally friendly. It is the best-recommended material for getting started with 3D printing.
  • PA (Nylon): Nylon is a high-performance engineering plastic, typically available in powder form for 3D printing, and is formed layer by layer through selective laser sintering. Compared with PLA and ABS materials, nylon has higher strength, wear resistance, impact resistance, and high-temperature resistance and is often used in functional parts (such as gears, drone parts, outdoor equipment, etc.).
  • PETG: PETG is a filamentary thermoplastic that combines the ease of printing of PLA with the toughness of ABS. It is an ideal choice for mechanical parts, electronic housings, and medical devices.
3D Printing

Metal 3D Printing Materials

  • Aluminum Alloy (Aluminum / AlSi10Mg): Aluminum alloy 3D printing uses powder melting technology (SLM and DMLS). Compared to stainless steel, aluminum alloy is lightweight, has high strength, and exhibits good thermal and electrical conductivity, making it widely used in aerospace, automotive, and other fields. However, the cost of 3D printing aluminum alloy is relatively high. If the design allows, CNC milling can be used instead of processing. In addition, you can also consider PA plastic with glass fiber as an alternative material.
  • Stainless Steel: Common stainless steel 3D printing materials include 304L, 316L, 17-4PH, 420, etc. Three-dimensional objects made by selective laser melting and direct metal laser sintering technology are often denser than materials directly milled by CNC. Their mechanical properties are better. Corrosion resistance is also better.
  • Titanium Alloy (Titanium / Ti6Al4V Grade 5): Whether in CNC milling or 3D printing, titanium alloy is a benchmark material for high-end metals. It has excellent strength-to-weight ratio, biocompatibility, high corrosion resistance, etc. Titanium alloys are essential materials in the medical and aerospace industries.
  • Nickel-based alloys (Inconel): Nickel-based alloys are also known as high-temperature alloys that can work in extreme environments. This material is often used in components of rocket engines and marine platform heat exchangers.
Custom Plastic ABS Nylon Parts SLA SLS 3d Printing

3D printing GZ-0001 split 2parts glue assembly

Project : 3D printing and painting , you can see this pictures .

1: design is 1set , this is whole parts design .

2: Because this is very big parts , so thinking shrink and precision questions , we always advice split 2parts or more , then use glue .

this is good idea to 3d printing , and always no any problems . if this parts need good surface , sure , make a painting is very good select .

3: this below pictures , we make by split , and you can see , this is success .

Post-processing of 3D Printing

Post-processing of 3D printing involves a series of surface treatments applied to printed products to enhance their color and functionality. Different materials have different post-processing methods. All these post-processing are almost the same as the surface treatment of CNC milling. AIXI can provide almost all popular surface treatment services on the market. The following are common technical classifications:

Contact Us

1. Support removal: Unlike CNC processing, 3D printed products are usually accompanied by the generation of support structures. Therefore, after printing, we usually need to use professional tools to remove these support structures and then polish and clean the product surface.

2. Painting: We often combine painting with resin printing. Resin materials themselves are usually only black and white, but you can get the desired color surface by painting. Before painting, the product needs to be polished to get a smooth surface.

3. Sandblasting: Sandblasting can quickly remove debris from the surface of the product to get a uniform matte texture surface, which is suitable for all materials.

4. CNC machining surface: For metal 3D-printed parts, CNC machining is often combined for finishing. The tolerance accuracy of 3D printing is relatively limited. For the precision metal parts after 3D printing, we will use CNC to complete them, ensuring the same surface finish as CNC processing.

5. Electroplating, electrophoresis, powder spraying, mirror polishing: These surface treatments can be applied to 3D-printed parts.

For more information, please visit https://www.aixihardware.com/services/surface-finishing/

Post-processing of 3D Printing
Post-processing-of-3D-Printing-services

Why Choose Our Custom 3D Printing Services

AIXI provides high-quality 3D printing services to ensure product quality. At the same time, we support composite processing (3D printing combined with CNC machining) to complete high-quality parts and provide one-stop post-processing services.

Contact Us
FAQs of AIXI 3D Printing Services

FAQs of AIXI 3D Printing Services

The cost of 3D printing is closely related to the size of the product being printed. Usually, we calculate the cost of 3D printed parts based on the gram weight of the product. The cost of AIXI for printing plastic products ranges from $0.05 to $0.20 per gram, and the cost of printing metal is approximately $0.40 per gram. We also calculate based on the product’s structure. If the design is more complex, support structures are typically used, which can increase the product’s price. Of course, we will thoroughly analyze the product during the quotation stage and select the most cost-effective solution.

The cost of 3D printing mainly comes from the weight of the product. Therefore, when we design, we can choose to hollow out the inside of the product, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing costs.

You can select the appropriate 3D printing process based on the material type. For example, materials such as resin, FLA, and PTEG are generally processed using FDM or SLA. If it is a nylon material, we typically use selective laser sintering (SLS) to complete it, while metal materials are processed using SLM or DMLS technology.

If you are unsure about this processing method, you can contact AIXI directly for a quick answer.

For 3D printing, we recommend submitting files in STP and STL formats. These two file formats accurately retain the three-dimensional data and complex details required for printing, which is helpful for product printing.

Our machines can print products with a maximum size of 800 mm x 600 mm x 600 mm. If your product exceeds this range, we can also print it in sections and then glue them together, which is a common solution for 3D printing.

Contact AIXI CNC Machining Facrory For The Best CNC Machining Services & Solutions.

Request A Quote