With over 800 exhibitors and more than 30,000 visitors in 2019, Formnext is continuously growing and established as the leading trade fair for Additive Manufacturing. This post will give an overview of the key take aways for the metal Additive Manufacturing industry.
The 2D printing pioneer XEROX aquired the startup VADER in early 2019. At Formnext they presented a mockup of their first metal printer which is based on the “Liquid Metal Printing” technology. The major benefit is its capability to process a wide portfolio of aluminum alloys including 6000 and 7000 series. It promises to enable high end aluminum casting applications to be manufactured by this AM technology. Machine performance and part quality must be proven over the next years but AMPOWER sees the potential that the aluminum casting sector in automotive and aviation will adopt this technology within the next decade.
The company MELTIO was formed by ADDITEC, the developer of the technology, and SICNOVA, a company specialized in sales in distribution. The USP of the MELTIO system is its low invest of USD 60,000 – 100,000 due to its proprietary laser source. Based on the Wire Laser Deposition technology, the system also uses low cost feedstock which ultimately results in very low cost per part. According to MELTIO, the system has already been sold over 30 times.
Read more about wire deposition technologies in the technology report section.
With evolving maturity level of Binder Jetting technologies, the Metal Injection Molding (MIM) industry is showing intensified interest in Additive Manufacturing to replace and complement their current production capabilities. With INDO MIM and ALLIANCE MIM, two major representatives of the industry exhibited at Formnext, showcasing numerous potential Binder Jetting applications that were originally designed for MIM.
Read more about Binder Jetting in the technology report section.
Company 6K, formerly AMASTAN, showcased their process chain using microwave based plasma technology to produce high quality powder feedstock. Instead of relying on ingots, 6K’s process is able to use recycled components or metal shavings from machining as input material. The material particles are cleaned, shredded and then processed with a microwave plasma to receive spherical powder particles, that are required for most powder-based metal AM processes. With an increase of importance of sustainable and highly efficient production processes, AMPOWER believes 6K’s value proposition is enticing.
Read about the current material consumption in out market report.
Isreal based company TRITONE debuts with a new sinter-based metal AM technology branded as Moldjet. Since 2017 and under the radar, the company has developed its new production method and presented a running machine prototype at Formnext 2019. After a printing process forms a 0.1 mm high mold, a next station in the carousel fills the void layer-wise with a metal powder slurry and binder component. Subsequent steps at each layer are quality assurance and drying. After finishing the printing process, sintering is required to achieve final part properties. TRITONE exhibited an impressive number of components made from multiple different alloys, such as stainless steels and tool steels, copper or titanium alloys. The slurry is based of MIM powder, thus AMPOWER expects low cost production that will target similar markets as Binder Jetting and Metal FDM.
Powder bed fusion continues to play the biggest role in metal AM technology. Many of the nearly 60 companies offering PBF machines were present at Formnext 2019 with a booth. This included exhibition debuts of several low-cost machine providers and quite a few APAC based companies that push towards western markets. Regarding the developments and improvements of machine technology, AMPOWER sees evolution instead of revolution. Continued optimization of the gas flow, increase in machine reliability and boost of productivity were major foci of the PBF manufacturers.
Read more about the industrialization in our report section.
