Renaissance Launches PERFECT-3D Division for 3D Printing

FAIRBORN, OH, Dec 5, 2017 – Renaissance Services has established a division that specializes in 3D printing. Known as the PERFECT-3D Division, it performs a variety of 3D printing, but specializes in printing of ceramic components, primarily for the investment casting industry.

Renaissance co-founder Robert Morris describes the need for the PERFECT-3D Division: “We’ve been printing ceramics for nearly five years. It was time to raise the status of this activity and give it the emphasis it deserves. We recently moved the operation from Cleveland to Fairborn, OH, establishing a fully-integrated operation to go from raw material to finished component.”

PERFECT-3D produces ceramic cores, molds, and filters for use by foundries that produce investment castings for aerospace and defense aircraft, engines, and support equipment. An area of particular interest is castings for “legacy” military systems that no longer have readily available sources for castings used to produce key components, including gearboxes and housings.

Morris notes that Renaissance and PERFECT-3D have received contracts from military agencies to seek reduced cost and lead times. “These castings often have scant technical data and tooling no longer exists. New tooling typically costs six-figures, taking months to produce. Our concept of ‘CAD as tooling’ produces a ceramic mold using our own patent pending process. We then work with foundries to produce castings just like the original, filling a critical cost and lead time gap. We recently worked with a production foundry to go from CAD model to a finished legacy engine gearbox casting in 26 days. Contrast this with the two year lead times that we regularly hear about from the military sustainment community.”

PERFECT-3D relies on expertise of chemistry industry leader BASF and foundries across the country. Each foundry brings an important capability to the effort, including the ability to work with a wide range of materials, including aluminum, magnesium, and nickel-based alloys.

PERFECT-3D produces the components on the equipment at its facility in Fairborn. “We use materials from BASF and Prodways ProMaker L5000 3D printing machines to generate the ceramic molds,” Morris notes. “We purchased ProMaker L5000 serial number one from Prodways three years ago and have had a very successful relationship. When considering equipment options for printing ceramics, we found Prodways equipment to be the best value, offering leading edge technical capability and durability.”

Morris cites BASF as a key partner: “BASF is our exclusive source for the photopolymer resins that are combined with ceramic material to enable our 3D printing of ceramic components. BASF has supported us with R&D resources, materials, and expertise to continually find better solutions and grow our capability.”

Morris says the PERFECT-3D Division represents a commitment by Renaissance to its current and prospective customers. “We want the industry to know that we are in this for the long haul and that the PERFECT-3D Division offers a one-stop-shop that is singularly focused on 3D printed cores, molds, and filters.”

About Renaissance Services

Renaissance Services is an enterprise systems integrator that helps aerospace & defense companies deploy solutions to reduce cost and improve quality by integrating the management of the product lifecycle, supply chain, and product quality. Renaissance provides services that are grounded in the fundamental tenets of requirements, transition, and lifecycle. At any stage in a product’s lifecycle, requirements must flow seamlessly and transition to the next organization in the chain or to the next stage of maturity. Renaissance has established, and continuously refines, an overarching methodology to streamline business processes, clarify technical content, and provide the tools to enable these improvements. When fully integrated, this methodology ensures the efficient flow of even the most complex requirements as they evolve and transition over a product lifecycle.

For more information visit www.ren-services.com.

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