Eplus3D – a Chinese manufacturer of metal 3D printers, has presented a new solution for MPBF (metal powder bed fusion) hybrid production, for easy and quick printing of items on existing parts made in CNC milling technology or castings. Equipped with “one-click” positioning, the solution has already been tested and approved by the company’s leading customers in March 2023. The solution is mainly used for automated, hybrid production of parts – the software automatically calculates the positioning information of the components to be produced hybrid, collecting images and obtaining a contour map. It then returns information about the position of the part to the 3D printer in order to print the desired geometries on it.
In the case of hybrid production on milled parts, the most critical and difficult step is to accurately place information about the first layer of 3D printing on the existing component. The working area should completely cover the ground, otherwise there will be misalignment and finally the element will not achieve the desired function. Misalignment of complex parts can cause them to fail to meet design requirements with dimensional tolerances of less than 0.1 mm.
The workflow of this hybrid production solution is relatively easy even for beginners. Before learning how to use this software system, users only need to have a basic understanding of metal powder additive manufacturing. In the workflow, the user directs the software to recognize the inner and outer contours of the part on the operating screen of the 3D printer. The software will then automatically position the 3D print data at that location with a repositioning accuracy of less than 0.1mm. The system uses the same camera as the Eplus3D active powder bed monitoring module, making it easy to integrate with customers who already use this feature.
The new MPBF hybrid manufacturing solution is widely used in the foundry, automotive and tooling industries. It is of great importance for realizing the exact positioning of a hybrid-produced 3D printing part. The new MPBF Hybrid Manufacturing Solution significantly reduces production costs and improves competitiveness in the field of metal 3D printing.
Source: Eplus3D press materials