Hover 3D-printer

The universal and synchronous aspiration to additive technologies led to the fact that 3D-printers which were purchased in China by many enterprises and organizations began to fail. Mass breakdowns of the equipment created demand for the Russian scientific developments in the field of volume printing. Scientists of the Mechanical Engineering Institute (MEI) URFA could satisfy this request. The university upgraded 3D technology - printings, having created a mass-produced model of the printer under the name Hover, and developed technology of printing of big forms, having entrusted an extruder of a brush of the robot.

"The method of supply of initial substance at printing in the form of a wire, but not powder, is known long ago. It allows to perform work with good accuracy and at a high speed — Valentina Ovchinnikova, the director of the center of nonlearning and educational work of MMI, the senior teacher of "Metal-cutting Machines and Tools" department of MMI noted URFA. — We parked an extruder, the car for softening of polymer and its giving on printing, on the robot, having made it the bearing system element. Printing zone increased, and we had a possibility of production on the 3D-printer of big forms. This project was implemented within interaction URFA and Fanuc companies, one of world leaders in production of industrial robots. The applied type of plastic can be changed, proceeding from the customer's purposes.".

Interest in the project was expressed by the Belgorod state national research university, the Izhevsk mechanical plant and the Ekaterinburg NPO Avtomatiki.

Distinctive feature of the units created to URFA — high (up to 80%) localization level. "Machines do not require purchase of import component parts, besides, the domestic software is used" — the first vice rector says URFA Sergey Kortov.

For import substitution solving of tasks the university works on creation of the equipment for production of the metal powders used in technology. According to the first vice rector URFA, one of such projects is started at the enterprise of Rosatom in Novouralsk.

Almost all parts of the unit were printed by specialists of the regional engineering center (REC) of laser and additive technologies URFA, transfers department of information policy of the head of the region.

The director of RITs Alexey Fefelov told that the Ural 3D-printer was created for half a year. Scientists stopped assembling the unit, now the machine undergoes debugging, the software is finished.

Specialists consider that creation of own 3D-printer will allow to increase the production volume of finished goods. Therefore, the bigger number of the enterprises will become interested in use of similar technologies.

As Sergey Kortov notes, the university created the competences in additive technologies within two years. In Russia the university is included into the three of the leading organizations for development of this industry.