EOS takes fine approach to laser sintering

EOS takes fine approach to laser sintering

G

ermany’s gies

developed

EOS

in

technolo-

GmhH

has

a ne\v fine-grained

steel-based

powder

Improved detail

specialist

laser-sintering

surface

resolution.

introduced

The

the

is generally

hut most applications

required,

EOS reports that it has sold more

require pal-

than 60 EOSINT M systems in 16 countries in Europe and Asia.

ishing to create an acceptable face finish. To overcome

offering

quality

machining

and

company

powder

itation,

EOS

‘DirectSteel

has

sur-

this lim-

developed

20-VI’,

which

can

build parts with a layer thickness

at ‘Euromold’ in Frankfurt (29 Nov-

of 20 pm. The company says the

emher ~ 2 Decemhcr

surfaces that in many cases they

ether the

2000)

tog-

with the latest version ‘EOSINT

M 250

of

Xtended’

Rapid prototype tooling According to EOS, the DirectTool

resulting parts have such smooth can he used for injection ing without

application of LIMLS is establishing itself with toolmakers. Traditional companies complement their service range with rapid

mould-

any polishing,

only

tooling

technology

deliver

functional

in order

to

prototypes

or

system and innovations

for plastic

requiring

laser-sintering.

headyuar-

and moulded parts produced in this way show a surface quality

parts fast and cost-effectively. experience of Sintoform

similar to the textured surfaces produced by spark-erosion or etching.

(Forsheda, Sweden), rapid-tooling spin-off

tered

EOS,

in Planegg

generates

near

an annual

Munich,

turnover

of

more than C20 million, ani 1 employs more than 100 staff.

shot-peening.

DirectSteel

20-Vl

Tooling

small series of plastic and metal AB

the recent from tool-

maker Forsheda Stalverktyg,

is a modified

The

illus-

trates the benefits.

Powder developments

version

Direct

which has a typical sintered ten-

from Brio to develop plastic com-

and

ponents that clamp the metal tub-

MPK

ing together in a child carrier. For safety reasons it was critical to

Metal

(DMLSB)

Laser-Sintering

was first introduced

t7y

of

DirectStecl

50-Vl,

sile strength

of 500 N.mmP’

EOS in 1995, using a proprietary

elongation

of

bronze-hased

September

thickness Two

powder with a layer

capability

years

later

layer thickness

of 100 pm.

the

minimum

was halved,

proving the suitability for most tooling late

1998,

the

company

50-W’,

layer thickness build

order

not yet disclosed the mechanical

know

properties for the new powder hut says they are ‘at least as good as

function properly, but the product launch plan using conventional

50-W’, making it ideal for producing prototypes and

that

Brio’s

design

would

methods would not allow time tco

intro-

parts with fine details. DirectSteel

powder

20-VI is scheduled for commercial release in the second quarter

process to huild the prototype tool-

also with a little

2000, p. 28). EOS has

an

modify the production tooling any problems were discovered.

In

of 50 klm. At this

thickness

(see

received

DirectSteel

applications.

duced its first steel-hased ‘DirectSteel

im-

of LIMLS

7%

Sintoform

Sintoform

of 2001.

used the DirectTool

ing with DirectMetal

post-

if

der on its EOSINT

50-V2 pow-

M 250 Xtended

System update

system (Figure

The latest version of the EOSINT

was able to deliver a set of fully

M 250 Xtcnded

functional injection

system includes

several new hardware and software

1). The

company

moulded parts

features to increase the final part

in just 16 days, which were used for the required functional tests. As a

quality and user-friendliness.

result, some design modifications

One

of these features is a home-in scan-

were lnade to improve the product,

ner, a scanner with integrated sen-

and the

sor that monitors the scanner mir-

duced on time and without risk.

series tooling

was pro-

rors’ position and corrects any drift

Figure I: Prototype tooling built using EOS’ DirectTool process enabled Sintoform to go from order to delivery of these functional plastic injection moulded parts in 16 days.

18

MPR

March

2001

in order to guarantee a more pre-

Contact:

EOS GmbH

cise positioning of the laser beam. A new recoating system allows for

Pasinger D-82152

Strasse 2 Planegg/Miinchen,

better adjustment of the machine and further increases user-friendli-

Tel: +.qg-89-856-85-232.

ness, EOS says. The new features

Fax: +4g-8g-8g-5g-o2-gg.

Germany.

are also available as upgrades for

E-mail:

existing EOS systems.

URL: www.eos-gmbh.de.

ooz6-0657/a/$

- see front

matter

0

axx

[email protected].

Elsevier

Science

Ltd. All rights

n

reserved.