Equispheres and Trumpf team up to improve production speed for Additive Manufacturing
May 17, 2022
Equispheres, Inc, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, has announced that Trumpf, headquartered in Ditzingen, Germany, has qualified Equispheres AlSi10Mg powder for use in its TruPrint 3000 series of Additive Manufacturing machines. The qualification process showed that Equispheres’ advanced aluminium materials could achieve up to a 33% faster build rate on the TruPrint system than standard aluminium powder.
Trumpf will release two parameter sets for the Equispheres materials. The ‘basic’ parameter set is reported to achieve 13% faster throughput than Trumpf‘s standard parameters, whilst the ‘productivity’ parameter set provides a 33% faster build rate while maintaining similar tensile properties.
“We are very pleased that Trumpf has quantified the improved performance that results from the pairing of its advanced Additive Manufacturing equipment and our unique powder. This combination will offer TruPrint users significant productivity increases,” stated Evan Butler-Jones, Vice-President – Product & Strategy for Equispheres. “This work confirms that our powders contribute to substantially better build rates when used on modern, high-quality Additive Manufacturing systems.”
“The characteristics of Equispheres’ powders will allow our customers to achieve better quality parts at higher build rates. By identifying this type of high-performing material and preparing the optimal parameters, we give our clients a competitive edge,” added Tobias Kiesow, an application engineer with Trumpf. Kiesow notes that Equispheres’ materials also demonstrate higher density in the finished part.
Trumpf’s qualification testing was conducted at 60-micron layers and achieved build rates of 164 cm³/h on a dual-laser system. The company also expects to release parameters for using Equispheres aluminium powders on its other AM machines.
Trumpf’s TruPrint 3000 AM machine uses Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) technology to produce parts with a diameter of up to 300 mm and a height of up to 400 mm. In the dual-laser configuration, two 500-watt lasers scan the machine’s entire build chamber in parallel.
“This qualification is a significant step forward for our materials. It gives part manufacturers a path to receive the maximum benefit from our superior feedstock and the support of applications engineering teams at both Trumpf and Equispheres,” continued Butler-Jones.
