Additive Industries launched a new metal 3D printer, the MetalFab 420K.
The Netherlands-based company has been producing modular metal 3D printers using the LBPF process for many years, gaining many customers across the globe. The MetalFab 420K is their latest device, and it seems to be designed to address the needs of customers that have used their prior equipment.
The major change on the 420K is that it uses four 1kW lasers, more lasers and more power. This dramatically speeds up production, as the laser operate in parallel during print jobs. They say productivity could increase by 2.5X with the 420K over previous machines.
It’s not just print speed that increases here; the higher laser power can also enable the creation of thicker layers that exhibit more strength.
A consequence of the higher laser power is that increased gas flow is required to carry away the additional contamination created by that higher power. Because of this, Additive Industries improved the gas flow with a new system design. Evidently they used flow simulations to help create the new design, which provides twice as much flow. The machine also has increased cooling for the same reason.
Another interesting feature isa variable beam diameter. This now becomes a process parameter that operators can adjust depending on the job requirements. It can be set between 0.1 and 0.5 mm. Operators can then match the diameter to specific materials for optimal results. The machine is capable of printing alloys made from aluminum, copper, nickel, iron and titanium.
Finally, they have increased the in process calibration. Specifically the machine has “inline laser alignment” that makes certain that the laser alignment does not deviate by more than 0.05mm, and the process takes less than a minute to complete.
Additive Industries has also implemented a slew of minor changes to the system as a whole to simplify operations. It’s here that they learned how to optimize operations by working with customers, and those thoughts and ideas have now made their way into the 420K.
It’s clear that Additive Industries has reached a very mature point in their technology lifecycle. By absorbing customer needs, they’ve produced what should be a highly productive metal 3D printer for manufacturers.
