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A Swedish producer of metal powders announced recently that it has launched commercial production of the industry’s first high precision binder jetting 3D metal printer, resulting in smaller and more intricate components than any previous technology, and because heat treatment occurs after printing, the process is adaptable for a variety of materials.

Digital Metal®, a Höganäs Group company, developed the DM P2500, which continuously prints in 42 µm layers at 100 cc/hr without the need for any support structures. It has 2500 cm³ print volume available. This makes it possible to manufacture small objects in high quantities (up to 50,000 parts in one print run), comprising shapes, geometries

and internal and external finishes never before achieved. The DM P2500 delivers a resolution of 35 µm and an average surface roughness of Ra 6 µm before additional finishing processes are applied.

Powder removed before sintering is reused for subsequent jobs, resulting in high yield and low scrap rates, meaning downtime is kept to a minimum, and there is no de-generation of the powder that other AM processes experience.

“The Digital Metal business has doubled year on year since its inception,” said Ralf Carlström, General Manager, Digital Metal. “However we’ve barely scratched the surface in terms of the potential this technology offers for designers and engineers. We’ve seen relatively small (but previously unachievable) changes to the internal structure of components result in a 30 percent improvement in overall product efficiency, which would have been impossible to produce using conventional methods. As the design and engineering community begin to explore and understand what our highly repeatable and reliable technology enables, we believe we will see huge demand for this technology.

By making the printers commercially available we hope to facilitate and fuel that demand.”

The second DM P2500 outside Digital Metal was installed in June 2017 and licensed to Centre Technique des Industries Mécaniques (CETIM), France’s benchmark institute and technological innovation hub for mechanical engineering. The machine started production just two days later and is already showing consistent results. The first printer is confidentially licensed to a global leader in fashion design and will see its new serial production items available at the end of this year.

Luxury watch start-up Montfort approached Digital Metal to print the dials for its watches inspired by the Swiss Alps. The binder jetting technique was the only solution that allowed Montfort the creative freedom to make watch dials with a design and finish that resembles the mineral, crystalline structure of rocks.

Additionally, in the U.S., Honeywell Aerospace and Digital Metal are exploring a number of joint 3D printing projects that will merge Honeywell’s expertise in aerospace engineering with Digital Metal’s leadership in additive manufacturing.

“The binder jetting technology Digital Metal uses to print small metal parts has the potential for various applications within the Honeywell Aerospace program,” said Don Godfrey, Engineering Fellow – Additive Manufacturing, Honeywell Aerospace. “We believe this will also be critical to applications in other key areas of the broader aerospace industry.”