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News Release from: EOS Electro Optical Systems | Subject: EOSINT M 270 laser sintering
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 April 2006
Laser-sintering for rapid prototyping
The latest EOS laser-sintering machine for rapid prototyping and manufacture of metal components in small, medium and even large volumes will be the focus on the company's stand at MACH.
The latest EOS laser-sintering machine for rapid prototyping and manufacture of metal components in small, medium and even large volumes will be the focus on the company's stand, where representative parts produced using the technique will be on show Called EOSINT M 270, the machine creates components directly from a CAD model, successively fusing layers of metal powder rapidly, reliably and cost-effectively
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 13 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Metal powder sintering machines get rapid
Rapid manufacture of metal components in small, medium and even large volumes can be achieved with the new EOSINT M 270 laser sintering machine
Rapid prototyping goes into production too
Laser-sintering saves time and money for prototyping during product development, but can now also be used in production too. EOS will show how at the K 2001 show in Duesseldorf, Germany.
Manufactured by the German company, EOS , whose UK subsidiary is in Warwick, the machine is suitable for manufacturing finished metal parts as well as tooling such as plastic injection moulds and diecasting moulds.
EOS is international leader in laser sintering technology.
In the latest machine, it has used a 200 watt Yb fibre laser which is capable of being finely focussed to 100 microns diameter, allowing greater detail resolution on the surface of the part than has been possible up till now.
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However, if any particular area does not require such close definition, the focus can be varied to achieve an optimum balance between required detail accuracy and sintering speed.
Components are built at between 2 and 20 mm3/s in a 250 x 250 x 215 mm working area within the gas-tight process chamber of the EOSINT M 270.
Such fast build times result from using scanning speeds up to 3 m/s and also from the Yb laser's short wavelength, which is absorbed efficiently as thermal energy into the metal powder.
A further contributory factor to high productivity is the quick recoating time, giving only a short delay between the end of laser sintering the previous layer and the start of the next cycle.
To practice what it preaches, EOS manufactures certain parts for the M 270, such as the handle of the process chamber, by producing them on its own metal and plastic laser sintering machines.
Featured also at MACH 2006 will be new metal powders launched at EuroMold at the end of last year.
Cobalt-chrome alloys, Inconel alloys and commercially pure titanium have already been successfully tested on the company's M 270.
Titanium alloys such as Ti-318 (Ti-Al6-V4), which is widely used to make orthopaedic implants, are also being developed for laser-sintering.
Highlighted also will be recent customer projects, including one where direct metal laser-sintering has been integrated for the first time into a glass squeeze forging process, which requires that the mould be subjected to temperatures of up to 1,300 degree Celsius.
More than 40 glass parts, in this case candle holders, have been produced from one such laser-sintered mould.
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