Virtual launch event for innovative metal industrial 3D printer

Wayland Additive will soon host a virtual launch event of its metal 3D printing system, the Calibur3, on 16^th March 2021.

Wayland Additive is promoting innovation in metal AM for production applications, which it achieves with the establishment of its proprietary and innovative NeuBeam process as the go-to solution for a range of manufacturing applications across various industrial sectors.

NeuBeam is an innovative metal AM process that effectively neutralises the electron beam (eBeam) powder bed fusion (PBF) process to offer greater flexibility than laser-based AM processes while overcoming the stability issues many users of traditional eBeam AM systems experience.

In addition, the NeuBeam process enables metallurgical requirements to be tailored to application requirements rather than the previous limitations of the process — to produce optimum results.

Will Richardson, CEO of Wayland Additive said: “In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been busy creating a truly informative and immersive virtual launch event for our new metal AM technology. The first machine is now in-house, and we have been working with professional videographers and a production team to make sure that in addition to our live interaction with our virtual audience, attendees can get up front and personal with the technology, and see ‘inside’ to get a feel for how the Calibur3 works, and also why this is so important for industry. The framework of the event will fully explain how the technology works and why we have spent the past 5 years researching and developing the Calibur3, which directly overcomes shortcomings that industry faces if relying on legacy metal AM technologies.”

NeuBeam is a hot part process rather than a hot bed process. This efficiently creates parts that are free of residual stresses because the high temperatures are only applied to the part and not the bed, ensuring free-flowing powder post-build (no sinter cake) and stress-free parts with reduced energy consumption.

Furthermore, the process overcomes many of the limitations for manufacturing large components – no residual thermal stresses, no gas cross-flow, and a much simplified powder removal process than existing eBeam systems.

The NeuBeam process is capable of producing fully dense parts in a wide range of materials, many of which are not compatible with traditional eBeam or laser PBF processes such as refractory metals and highly reflective alloys. As a result, the NeuBeam process can demonstrate vastly improved metallurgy, without many of the compromises that existing metal AM processes necessitate.

NeuBeam also offers significant advantages over other technologies with built-in real-time in-process monitoring, allowing for rapid material development or tuning of microstructures by adapting the solidification during manufacture. With NeuBeam the process temperature is not constrained by sintering the powder bed, allowing the process temperature to be optimised to the material microstructure and/or the application.

These unprecedented levels of in-process monitoring are achieved through a combination of advanced technologies, including structured light scanning, electron imaging and high speed infra-red cameras. Each of these different monitoring approaches are calibrated to the same reference points in the machine, with managed adjustments, to ensure optimum results and output. Being a true thermal process, everything in the build chamber is able to be monitored, and it is possible to see the true temperature of the whole powder bed in-process as a build takes place. The thermal history of the material being processed can also be seen, as can the topography of the surface so that defects can be detected — and reported — as they occur.

All interested parties can register their interest online at the company website.

Wayland Additive www.waylandadditive.com