VulcanForms is elevating metal 3D printing to the next stage of AM industrialization.

Spun out from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumnus and professor duo, VulcanForms is pushing the boundary on digital manufacturing as a service for companies using its proprietary laser powder bed fusion metal 3D printers to build industrial products at scale.

While cutting-edge additive manufacturing offers a world of possibilities for companies looking to transform their manufacturing processes and create new products, metal 3D printing is still regarded as a tough sell due to the ongoing struggle for throughput and consistency for many industrial applications.

However, MIT alumnus Martin Feldman and MIT professor John Hart sought to alleviate these concerns by offering a process that goes beyond simple 3D printing.

Aimed to assist customers with materials selection and product design to then craft a scalable manufacturing workflow in its production, at the heart of each of these workflows is a proprietary laser powder bed fusion metal 3D printer that uses an array of finely choreographed beams to produce high-performance metal parts with complex designs.

Integrated with VulcanForms' machining, robotics, and post-processing equipment, the printers employ a "digital thread" that monitors each part as it is produced.

"Even though LPBF technology is well-established for several applications including jet engine fuel nozzles and orthopedic implants, it's barely scratching the surface of the opportunity," said Hart. "VulcanForms sees a tremendous market opportunity to realize additive manufacturing at industrial scale and integrate it with a digital production system."

Much like the initial steps at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, as a kind of digital assembly line, this process opens up a new door to additive manufacturing.

Currently, VulcanForms is producing parts for companies in the medical, defense, semiconductor, and aerospace industries, turning designs into finished parts in a matter of days. The founders say VulcanForms' quality even exceeds that of industry standards with materials like titanium, as well as nickel-based and advanced steel alloys.

Putting AM at the forefront

Hart calls his entry into additive manufacturing serendipitous. In 2013, a colleague asked him to teach a class for MIT's Master of Engineering in Advanced Manufacturing and Design program that somehow shaped into an AM master class.

"I don't remember what led me to propose that the class focus on additive manufacturing, because I wasn't yet doing research in the area," he said. "The class was an experiment I used to explore a new interest and to tap into the passion and curiosity of the students."

One of these students was Feldmann, then in his first semester at MIT. The project-based class tasked students with measuring the accuracy of 3D-printed parts, improving their properties and contributing to lectures relating 3D printing to the core principles of manufacturing.

"MIT throws so much at you – highly technical stuff but very applicable stuff," said Feldmann. "At MIT, learning additive manufacturing wasn't just calculating things. It was, 'Here are [fused deposition modeling] printers, tell me what their capabilities are.' And you use them and make things. I enjoyed that. It prepares one for leading research efforts in industry and startups because you have to approach things like you know what you're doing and have the confidence that you'll figure it out."

After earning his degree, Feldmann became a research specialist in Hart's lab, studying nanomaterials and battery electrodes. Feldmann and Hart continued brainstorming ways to make additive manufacturing more industrially relevant.

Eventually, they decided to build a new kind of LPBF metal 3D printer that would enable a large number of lasers to operate simultaneously, improving throughput while maintaining the quality of the finished part.

"Our goal was to rearchitect the LPBF process, and to do it in a way that enables a much higher and more consistent quality, which we saw to be the main impediment to industrialization of additive manufacturing," added Hart.

With that mission in mind, the duo decided to take the leap and start VulcanForms, with Feldmann essentially supporting himself for nearly two years while he worked on the first printer prototype.

Today the company's printers use hundreds of weld tracks in each layer through which the lasers move in a kind of synchronized dance. The lasers collectively deliver up to 100 kilowatts of power to make parts at a higher resolution and scale than the founders say other printers can achieve.

"From the start, we saw 3D printing as a cornerstone of digital manufacturing, where the software and hardware work hand-in-hand to encode and execute production instructions," continued the MIT professor. "We've built the software that allows each part to receive the same temperature locally in each voxel in each layer. It also allows us to move quickly to the end product while maintaining that consistency in production."

In addition to its multi-laser system, VulcanForms' production foundry also includes CNC machining – a computerized manufacturing process in which pre-programmed software and code control the movement of production equipment – and post-processing equipment.

The VulcanForms founders say the company's key differentiator is its software stack.

Ultimately, the duo is focused on what its system can do for their customers.

"What really gets me excited is how we're able to take a customer part and turn it into reality in a production setting – not in a coat hanger or desk ornament setting," said the MIT alumnus. "Everyone in additive is just super excited about what a 3D printer can do and not how this works in a production stream. That's why we have an entire production value stream in house. It's why our motto isn't 'VulcanForms: 100 kilowatts laser power in a printer.' It's 'VulcanForms: accelerating innovation.'"

Super testimonial

Last year, an unnamed supercomputer manufacturer sent VulcanForms designs for a cooling component in its processors. The titanium part, which contained dozens of microscopic tunnels, was so complex it could only be made using additive manufacturing.

As The New York Times reported, VulcanForms came back with a part two days later.

VulcanForms has also produced medical implants, industrial tooling and tire molds, and components for aviation and defense contractors.

Feldmann sees innovations enabled by additive manufacturing driving technological progress in a number of industries.

"I don't think there are going to be orthopedic implants that aren't LPBF-printed in the future," he said.

That technological progress, in turn, will yield even more use cases.

"The only thing I'm 100% sure of is the highest-value applications for additive manufacturing have not yet been found," Feldmann added.

The company also sees the transformation of manufacturing enabled by digital production technologies as an opportunity for the United States to improve both economic prosperity and its ecosystem of innovation.

"VulcanForms believes that one of the greatest opportunities in the United States is rebuilding its industrial ecosystem around digital production systems," said Hart. "Digital-first production technologies, including additive manufacturing and automated precision machining, enable more innovative, resource efficient, and resilient supply chains. Innovation in manufacturing is the backbone of the American economy."