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Fast prototyping equipment, pattern-making and services
News Release from: EOS Electro Optical Systems (UK) | Subject: EOSINT M 270 Direct Metal Laser-Sintering
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 31 January 2008
Laser metal sintering produces tooling,
inserts
USA manufacturer is to use direct metal laser sintering to produce tooling inserts, prototype parts, and end products directly in metal, to evaluate prototype products more quickly.
Vaupell Rapid Solutions in the USA has selected the EOSINT M 270 Direct Metal Laser-Sintering (DMLS) system to produce tooling inserts, prototype parts, and end products directly in metal Vaupell is a division of Vaupell Molding and Tooling, and a leading American rapid prototyping and manufacturing service bureau
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 27 Jul 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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EOS of North America, a division of EOS, said that Vaupell collaborates with clients to meet their rapid prototyping, product design, tooling, and manufacturing challenges.
General manager of Vaupell, Steve Ettelson, said: "The M 270 will allow many of our customers to more quickly evaluate functional prototypes in actual or close-to-actual end materials, and in design configurations and time frames not possible with any other established process".
The EOSINT M 270 DMLS system produces metal parts from a variety of materials including the following.
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* Bronze-based alloys.
* A cobalt-chrome superalloy.
* Titanium Ti64,.
* Maraging and stainless steels.
Typical applications are tooling, engineered products and medical implants, among others.
The system uses a focused, 200W ytterbium-fiber laser to melt metal powder, which fuses into a solid part.
It builds parts layer by layer, often with less post processing than traditional CNC machining, and it operates fully automatically and completely unattended.
* High accuracy - metal parts made with the M 270 offer high accuracy and detail resolution, good surface quality, and excellent mechanical properties.
"We put the M 270 in our machining department instead of our rapid prototyping department, because we view DMLS as very complementary to machining," said Ettelson.
* Complex geometries - the M 270 can also produce complex mold geometries, such as integrated conformal cooling channels, that are not possible in traditional toolmaking processes.
"We know the needs of our customer base and are very confident that the M 270 will provide breakthrough capabilities in several areas," said Ettelson.
"For example, being a world leader in molding high-temperature thermoplastics, we expect to significantly reduce our manufacturing cycle times with the conformal cooling possibilities offered by DMLS".
Vice president of EOS for North America, Jim Fendrick, said: "We are delighted that Vaupell Rapid Solutions selected our DMLS system to be a key component of their next-generation product design and fabrication services.
The M 270 empowers innovative companies like Vaupell Rapid Solutions to create completely new products for their clients".
* About EOS of North America - EOS of North America Incorporated sells, services, supports, and markets the entire EOS line of rapid prototyping, rapid tooling, and rapid manufacturing systems.
This includes systems for plastics laser-sintering as well as Direct Metal Laser-Sintering (DMLS).
Founded in 1989, EOS is a world leader in the manufacture of laser-sintering systems.
Laser-sintering is the key technology for e-Manufacturing: the fast, flexible and cost-effective production directly from CAD data.
The technology accelerates product development and optimizes production processes.
EOS has completed its business year 2006/2007 with revenues in laser-sintering of EUR 59.7 million (approximately US$88 million), which is an increase of 14% compared to the previous year.
EOS is headquartered in Krailling/Munich, Germany.
* About Vaupell Rapid Solutions - Vaupell Rapid Solutions provides prototypes and models of new and innovative product designs for aerospace, defense, life science, and commercial OEMs.
The company specializes in Stereolithography (SLA); Selective Laser Sintering (SLS); Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS); 3- to 5-axis machining; and casting of urethane, epoxy, silicone, and metals.
Its expertise allows Vaupell to help its customers prove out their design concepts and carry out functional tests so they can launch better products more quickly.
Vaupell can provide prototype and short-run production of injection molded parts during start-up, and Vaupell Molding and Tooling, its parent company, offers production tools, fixtures, and parts for customers in its five facilities around the world.
Vaupell is ISO 9000 and 13485 registered.
Vaupell's experts in prototyping and early stage production work with customers to make the right choices.
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