Additive Engineering Solutions (AES), an Ohio-based large-format 3D printing company, traces its origins to a 2014 demonstration at Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Manufacturing Demonstration Facility. Austin Schmidt, then a Caterpillar engineer, witnessed ORNL and industry partners 3D print a car at the International Manufacturing Technology Show. After successfully printing a 2,000-pound bulldozer frame mockup at the MDF, Schmidt discovered a market gap when both ORNL and Cincinnati Incorporated declined to offer manufacturing services beyond research and equipment production.
Schmidt partnered with Andrew Bader to launch AES, focusing on large-format polymer printing using Big Area Additive Manufacturing (BAAM) printers. These machines, developed with ORNL and adapted from Cincinnati’s laser cutters, are large enough to host a small dinner party inside. The company has maintained regular collaboration with ORNL for nearly a decade, working together on software improvements and new printing techniques.
AES faces ongoing technical challenges, particularly what Schmidt calls the “Goldilocks problem” of temperature control during printing. “The printing can’t be too hot or cold, or we end up scrapping the whole job,” said Schmidt. “Something that took 24 hours to print, you could lose the whole thing at hour 22.” The company is addressing this issue by experimenting with 45-degree angled printing approaches, though this creates new software and geometry complications.
The company now owns four of the 15 BAAM printers ever manufactured and has become a support resource for other BAAM users since Cincinnati Inc. stopped producing the machines. AES broke ground on new factory space this summer and serves clients in aerospace, defense, and construction sectors. “Large scale polymer is still pretty niche, so it’s not a massive market, but it’s growing every year,” said Bader.
Source: ornl.gov