New 3D Metal Printing Technique Combines Lasers and Advanced Robotics

Posted by samzenpus on Monday September 7, 2015 @06:09PM from the build-it-better dept.

An anonymous reader writes: A new alternative to rival other 3D metal printing techniques is being developed by a team of manufacturing researchers at the Southern Methodist University. Led by Professor Radovan Kovacevic, the group have presented a technique called Laser-Based Direct Metal Deposition (LBDMD) which builds on traditional FDM and laser technology to create high-quality metal objects as parts for a range of fabrication uses. The technology uses multi-axial positioning robotics which eliminates the need for a support structure and human intervention.

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Hmm.... by Anonymous Coward · 2015-09-07 22:52 · Score: 2, Interesting

1) I'd expect problems with oxide inclusions unless they are going to use a lot of argon to shield the melt pool. Maybe they should look at coating the metal powder with small amounts of polyethylene to act as an oxygen scavenger above the fusion pool.
2) I'd expect to see a lot of thermal stresses in parts made by intermittently melting a small part of the surface. Annealing before surface machining would probably make sense.
3) Has anyone managed to create a powder explosion using metal dust? This looks like the ideal technology to try it out.