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27 Nov 2024
Fiber laser maker and industrial equipment firm both launch dual-beam approaches tailored to metal part production.
The fiber laser company IPG Photonics and the precision industrial equipment firm Renishaw have each launched new approaches to additive manufacturing that use a pair of laser beams instead of one.
Revealed at last week’s Formnext 2024 trade fair held in Frankfurt, Germany, the separate developments promise to advance production of metal components for applications ranging from aerospace to medical devices.
IPG’s ‘YLR-AMB’ lasers
IPG’s new design incorporates its novel dual-beam lasers, which offer independent control of the simultaneously emitted core and ring beams and are said to offer more versatile processing and optimized heat distribution.
With a total output power of 4 kilowatts, options include a 1 kilowatt core beam coupled with a 3 kilowatt ring, and a 2 kilowatt core alongside a 2 kilowatt ring, in a rack-mountable format.
The US-headquartered laser firm says that independent adjustment of the center and ring modes optimizes the heat distribution for faster, high-quality builds, claiming speed improvements of up to five times over single-beam systems.
“Compared to alternative solutions like external moving bulk optics or other mode switching technologies, dual-mode fiber lasers are more compact and cost-effective and are not sensitive to alignment, vibration, or contamination,” it points out.
The 1 kW/3 kW combination said to achieve build rates exceeding 324 cm3 per hour with greater than 99.9 per cent density on materials such as the commonly used “Ti-6Al-4V” titanium alloy.
Trevor Ness, IPG’s senior VP of global sales and business development, said: “These new YLR-AMB lasers are game-changers for additive manufacturing. By combining high-power, precision control, and application-specific optimization, we’re empowering manufacturers to redefine productivity and cost efficiency.”
Lower barrier to entry
Meanwhile UK-based Renishaw, which already offers a range of metal additive manufacturing systems based around the powder bed fusion approach using fiber sources, launched a dual-laser variant of its “RenAM 500” series, called the “RenAM500D”.
The new system portfolio is designed to offer exceptional product quality and productivity for a wider range of budgets, stated the firm, adding: “The RenAM 500D features two 500 W lasers that can access the entire build platform, delivering superior performance when compared with single laser systems.”
The improved speed and output of the dual-laser series, including the “500D”, “500D Flex” and “500D Ultra” options, means that customers will be able to dramatically expand their production capabilities without expanding their factory footprint, with director of additive manufacturing Louise Callanan adding:
“By making high-quality AM systems more productive than ever, we aim to lower the entry barrier to this advanced technology and encourage wider adoption across different industries.”
The “RenAM 500D Ultra” option includes Renishaw's “TEMPUS” technology , which allows the laser to fire while the re-coater is moving - a feature that is said to save up to nine seconds per build layer.
“This also helps to deliver a production speed up to three times faster than conventional single laser systems,” claims the company.
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