Renishaw, the global engineering technologies company, announced the sale of an AM250 laser melting additive manufacturing machine to Swansea University, one of the UK’s top research universities. The AM250 allows the construction of fully dense, highly complex metal parts and structures that would not be possible to build using traditional subtractive manufacturing techniques.

The system will be used by a new “Aerospace & Manufacturing” multidisciplinary research team within the University’s College of Engineering. Part of the team’s focus is the ASTUTE (Advanced Sustainable Manufacturing Technologies) project, a pan-Wales joint initiative part-funded by the EU’s Convergence European Regional Development Fund through the Welsh Government. The aim of the project is to promote growth within the manufacturing industry in West Wales and the Valleys by adopting more advanced technologies.

Renishaw’s additive manufacturing (AM) technology is a digitally driven process that uses a high-powered ytterbium fibre laser to fuse fine metallic powders into 3D objects, direct from 3D CAD data. The metallic powder is distributed evenly across the build plate in layer thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 microns forming the 2D cross section. The layer of powder is then fused using the laser in a tightly controlled atmosphere. The process is repeated, building up parts of complex geometries, layer by layer.

The application for laser melting is vast: from producing quality prototypes, to creating bio-compatible orthopedic implants. A key advantage is that component design need no longer be driven by the constraints of traditional machining techniques, giving the opportunity to rethink the concept of “design for manufacture.”

Renishaw
www.renishaw.com/additive

ASTUTE project
www.astutewales.com