LZH debuts latest developments in laser AM at Formnext 2024

14 Nov 2024

Showcasing parts made from challenging materials like brass, polymers, glass.

LZH will showcase parts made from special materials such as brass.

Laser Center Hannover (LZH) is exhibiting for the first time at the Formnext exhibition and convention in Frankfurt, Germany, next week. The research center will present its latest research results in the additive manufacturing (AM) of metal, polymers and glass between November 19th to 22nd.

“With innovative approaches, we are pushing the boundaries of what is possible in additive manufacturing and opening up new perspectives for industrial production. Considering powder bed-based additive manufacturing, there is a focus on special materials as well as manufacturing in space,” LZH announced, this week.

In the field of powder bed-based additive manufacturing with metallic materials, LZH is focusing on process development of special materials such as magnesium and its alloys, brass and niobium. These materials offer special properties for applications, that place high demands on biocompatibility, thermal conductivity or strength.

Also at Formnext, LZH will be featuring components that could be used for an efficient hydrogen incineration; showing how 3D-printing could operate on the moon; and advances in efficient wire-based deposition welding.

Coaxial laser processing head developed by LZH.

Coaxial build-up welding

Another highlight will be wire-based deposition welding, which enables cost-efficient manufacturing of large-scale components. Thanks to a specially developed laser processing head for coaxial build-up welding, LZH says it is possible to precisely manufacture both small and large components in complex geometries, regardless of direction. This technique also enables manufacturing of multi-material-components.

Considering AM with polymers, LZH will show innovative solutions for such systems engineering. Cost-effectively AM-produced components can be used in vulnerable areas and just replaced if damaged.

Also on show in Frankfurt will be a system that has been successfully used in a research project to defuse unexploded bombs. LZH is demonstrating how AM can be used productively in the field of medical technology with a seat orthosis for physically disabled children; an orthosis is an externally applied device for control of the structural and functional characteristics of the human body.

Additive manufacturing with glass enables new applications.

Glass works

Another notable research area at LZH is AM with glass filaments. Here the aim is to push the boundaries of conventional glass manufacturing to achieve new design and form possibilities in areas such as structural glass engineering, optics, photonics, or medical technology.

The Glass research group is working on producing voluminous and dense glass components with a smooth surface and homogeneous volume. This is to ensure optimized load transfer and the possibility of producing free-form lenses.

LZH and Niedersachsen Additiv as partners for research and development. LZH says its supports companies as a partner for research and development in the field of AM, and in the implementation of innovative production processes. At Formnext, experts from Niedersachsen Additiv will be on site and also available as contacts for SMEs from Lower Saxony.