Aerosint, the Belgian 3D printer manufacturer, has launched its Dual-Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion technology and has also showcased the potential of the Aconity Midi + printer integrated with Aerosint’s multi-material recoater by printing a metal part.
The printing was carried out on the printer designed by its partner Aconity 3D so the multi-material powder deposition technology could be integrated. The Aerosint recoater is also made available as an extra option on the price list of the Aconity Midi+ printer.
Aerosint has been trying to develop multi-material printing capabilities in L-PBF since its inception and we can see the series of developments made by the company right from early January 2018 when it announced the multi-powder SLS 3D printer.
Multi-Powder SLS 3D Printer
In early January 2018, the company invented the first ever multi-powder SLS 3D printer. The technology could allow companies to 3D print parts consisting of different materials by melting powder layers composed of more than one powder.
The technology was called as “multi-powder dispensing technology”. This dispenser consists of several patterning drums which can be used for each or single powder type. The main essence of this dispensing technology lies in its ability to distinguish object and support powder. This makes it possible to combine multiple powders in a single 3D printing process and eliminate powder degradation that mostly occurs when the powder is used as both object as well as the support materials. This total elimination of the degradation of the support powder can allow users to save powder consumption costs.
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Dual-Metal Powder Recoater for L-PBF
Last year, just before Formnext 2019, the company announced the launch of its multi-powder recoater. This unique kind of recoater can lay down dual metal powder layers to unlock dual-metal laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) printing. The dual-metal powder recoater was designed for integration in the Aconity Midi + L-PBF printer.
Dual-Metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion Technology
Above: Powder deposition realized with Aerosint’s technology followed by the laser melting/Video Credit: Aerosint/YouTube
Multi-material printing was a long-time dream for many manufacturers but Aerosint has always been at the forefront of this ambition. With the latest announcement, Aerosint has confirmed the development of the technology. Moreover, the company has made the technology material agnostic and so it can be used for polymers as well as metals. A capability users were waiting to incorporate.
The company also shared a few details about the part and the process
- Printed on Aconity3D Midi + L-PBF printer in which Aerosint’s dual-metal recoater was integrated
- Dimensions of the part: 6.9 mm height and diameter of 55 mm
- The part consists of 174 layers of 40 microns each
- Materials used: 316 L and CuCrZr
- CuCrZr channel diameter 1.7 mm
- Build time: 5:40 hours (approximately)
Commenting on the new announcement, the company exclaimed, “We feel this is a major breakthrough for 3D printing and are happy to have accomplished this with Aconity 3D. Dual-metal printing gives designers and engineers the ultimate degree of freedom to make better parts. We are very proud of this accomplishment. No other technology is today capable of producing such dual-metal parts. Dual-metal Laser Powder Bed Fusion creates a range of new use cases and applications that we feel excited to explore together with our partners in the future.”
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