Additive Manufacturing: Welcome to metal 3D printing
Additive Manufacturing forms the final core area of the CHIRON Group metalworking and automation expertise. The Group offers complete solutions that go beyond traditional machining methods and also cover this fast-moving market environment. The focus here is on laser metal deposition technology: conventional or high-speed.
In laser metal deposition, a weld metal is melted and metallurgically bonded with a substrate. One of the benefits of this process is that it results in lower thermal stress on the substrate. It is also ideal for manufacturing new workpieces and repairing damage as well as restoring the original geometry of components.
AM Cube
The »Easy to use« AM Cube 3D metal printer is suitable for manufacturing larger and more complex components via laser metal deposition with wire or powder, as well as for coating and repair.
AM Coating
Coating brake disks makes a significant contribution to reducing particulate matter pollution in the air. AM Coating is an industrial system designed for the application of anti-corrosion and wear-resistant coatings via high-speed laser metal deposition with powder.
Laser metal deposition - Wire (LMD-W)
Using this technology, the laser beam melts wire as the base material, and the melted wire fuses together and solidifies. This enables complex geometries to be created, as the workpiece is built up layer-by-layer. The flexible laser is suitable for both fine surfaces and high build-up rates. The material feed in the AM Cube is clean and ensures that 100 percent of the material reaches the melting area via coaxial process control with wire. The deposition process is performed with shielding gas in a sealed system.
3-beam laser
Shieldgas nozzle
Wire nozzle
Shieldgas area
Weld pool
Weld bead
Bond zone
Substrate
Wire
Laser metal deposition - Powder (LMD-P)
This process is also used on the AM Cube. In this case, the feedstock material that is fed to the weld pool is in powder form – ideal for thin coatings. The coaxial nozzle means that this process works in any welding direction.
Laser beam
Powder nozzle
Powder
Shieldgas area
Weld pool
Weld bead
Bond zone
Substrate
High-speed laser metal deposition (High-speed LMD)
The process is a further development of laser metal deposition and ideal for protecting brake disks from wear and corrosion. The coating speed, significantly higher than conventional laser metal deposition, is a result of the procedure itself: Metallic powder particles are blown into the laser beam and melt here rather than waiting for the weld pool.
Procedure comparison
The process used in AM Coating also boasts advantages in comparison with thermal coating using high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) spraying: Mechanical or thermal pre-treatment of the brake disks is dispensed, significantly shortening the process chain.
Further advantages compared with oxygen fuel spraying
Improved adhesion through molecular bonding
High degree of powder utilization
Thinner layers, down to tenths of a millimeter
Layers with different properties and thicknesses
Lower heat input and smaller heat-affected zone in the brake disk
