Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CMF (Metal Additive Manufacturing with sinter-based Cold Metal Fusion Technology for mass production of metal parts)
Reporting period: 2022-04-01 to 2023-03-31
Current Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies for metal parts have limited output, high production costs and small material selections and that limit their application to prototypes and small batches.
ColdMetalFusion (CMF) is a patented process to produce metal parts by combining the mature and robust processes Laser Sintering for plastics with Powder Metallurgy. The combination of the processes and the innovation itself is based on a unique feedstock material which can be processed on existing machinery equipment. The properties of the final metal parts exceed the requirements of relevant standards and achieve superior part characteristics compared to competing technologies.
ColdMetalFusion (CMF) is a patented process to produce metal parts by combining the mature and robust processes Laser Sintering for plastics with Powder Metallurgy. The combination of the processes and the innovation itself is based on a unique feedstock material which can be processed on existing machinery equipment. The properties of the final metal parts exceed the requirements of relevant standards and achieve superior part characteristics compared to competing technologies.
Within the project the goal is to broaden the material availability and the machine availability for ColdMetalFusion as well as to scale-up the production method for the material production.
The material portfolio was increased by two materials for production and three materials in beta-phase. The two materials stainless steel 17-4PH and tool steel M2 are already completely qualified for the ColdMetalFusion process chain and are commercially available. The properties of both materials exceed relevant standards and are also qualified by costumers for part production.
Additionally the nickel alloys Inconel 625 and Inconel 718 as well as tool steel H13 are in beta phase and will be officially released soon. Further alloys such as aluminium, low alloy steels and copper are in research state.
The portfolio of qualified machines could be expanded considerably. Additional to the EOS Formiga P110 the feedstock can be successfully processed on a Sinterit Lisa, Sintratec S2, a XYZ MfgPro230 xS and a Farsoon HT252P. Furthermore we qualified the complete product portfolio of Lömi for debinding. Together with CarboliteGero we developed the entry-level sintering furnace CMF8, which achieves properties comparable to those produced in production furnaces.
We are founding member of the COldMetalFUsion Alliance, an Alliance of 12 industry leaders from 3D printing, postprocessing, sintering and powder metallurgy. The goal of the alliance is to push the adoption of metal 3D for serial production. First products of the alliance are the turn-key solutions LabSystem and JobShop. The LabSystem is an entry-level ColdMetalFusion process chain consisting of a Sintratec S2 laser sintering machine, a Lömi CMF DB30 debinding machine and a CarboliteGero CMF8 sintering furnace. The JobShop is a production-level ColdMetalFusion process chain consisting of a Farsoon HT252P laser sintering machine, a Lömi CMF DB50 debinding machine and a CarboliteGero CMF25 sinter furnace. Both systems are optimised for the materials of Headmade and are offered as a turn-key solution for customers.
To make the material available for customers a new proprietary production method for the material was developed and will be further optimized. The new production method allows to produce higher quality materials and can be scaled up easily.
The material portfolio was increased by two materials for production and three materials in beta-phase. The two materials stainless steel 17-4PH and tool steel M2 are already completely qualified for the ColdMetalFusion process chain and are commercially available. The properties of both materials exceed relevant standards and are also qualified by costumers for part production.
Additionally the nickel alloys Inconel 625 and Inconel 718 as well as tool steel H13 are in beta phase and will be officially released soon. Further alloys such as aluminium, low alloy steels and copper are in research state.
The portfolio of qualified machines could be expanded considerably. Additional to the EOS Formiga P110 the feedstock can be successfully processed on a Sinterit Lisa, Sintratec S2, a XYZ MfgPro230 xS and a Farsoon HT252P. Furthermore we qualified the complete product portfolio of Lömi for debinding. Together with CarboliteGero we developed the entry-level sintering furnace CMF8, which achieves properties comparable to those produced in production furnaces.
We are founding member of the COldMetalFUsion Alliance, an Alliance of 12 industry leaders from 3D printing, postprocessing, sintering and powder metallurgy. The goal of the alliance is to push the adoption of metal 3D for serial production. First products of the alliance are the turn-key solutions LabSystem and JobShop. The LabSystem is an entry-level ColdMetalFusion process chain consisting of a Sintratec S2 laser sintering machine, a Lömi CMF DB30 debinding machine and a CarboliteGero CMF8 sintering furnace. The JobShop is a production-level ColdMetalFusion process chain consisting of a Farsoon HT252P laser sintering machine, a Lömi CMF DB50 debinding machine and a CarboliteGero CMF25 sinter furnace. Both systems are optimised for the materials of Headmade and are offered as a turn-key solution for customers.
To make the material available for customers a new proprietary production method for the material was developed and will be further optimized. The new production method allows to produce higher quality materials and can be scaled up easily.
The above mentioned technical project results will overall lead to more available and better materials which will strongly improve the relevance of metal 3D printing for the serial production of metal parts in volumes up to 1,000,000 parts/year and that with a material selection not available with current 3D printing technologies or also traditional manufacturing methods.
A large part of the quality improvement in our technology is tide to our new proprietary production process which will increase the quality of our feedstock and therefore the processability and finally the quality of the produced parts. Furthermore, we are committed with this lower production costs and hence more available applications for ColdMetalFusion.
Beside the finalization of the technical working packages, a high effort is necessary to commercialise the technology and materials, especially by developing appropriate applications with customers and user and the internationalisation.
A large part of the quality improvement in our technology is tide to our new proprietary production process which will increase the quality of our feedstock and therefore the processability and finally the quality of the produced parts. Furthermore, we are committed with this lower production costs and hence more available applications for ColdMetalFusion.
Beside the finalization of the technical working packages, a high effort is necessary to commercialise the technology and materials, especially by developing appropriate applications with customers and user and the internationalisation.