HP’s Metal Jet technology integrates into Materialise’s CO-AM platform
November 8, 2023
Materialise and HP have announced a strategic partnership which will see HP’s Metal Jet Binder Jetting (BJT) Additive Manufacturing technology integrated into the Materialise CO-AM software platform. The collaboration is expected to enable manufacturers raise the efficiency and quality of their Additive Manufacturing to match industrial requirements and use it for volume production of end parts.
“To scale Additive Manufacturing, the industry is in need of printers that are designed for high productivity coupled with an integrated end-to-end workflow solution – the partnership between HP and Materialise delivers this solution,” stated Arvind Rangarajan, Global Head of Software and Data, HP Personalisation and 3D Printing.
Whilst manufacturers recognise the unique benefits of AM, there can be challenges onboarding the technology: the speed of their selected AM process may not hold up to volume production and they often have difficulties integrating the process with existing manufacturing technologies. In an effort to support these companies, HP offers industrial AM solutions that are said to be manufacturing ready. In combination with the Materialise CO-AM Software Platform, manufacturers can link HP’s Metal Jet and Multi Jet Fusion technology to their existing production systems and optimise the AM workflow.
“Manufacturers are increasingly using 3D printing for end-use parts instead of solely in the prototyping and design phase,” added Bart Van der Schueren, CTO of Materialise. “This partnership will help drive this shift by supporting more efficient, repeatable volume production.”
The connectivity between HP AM technology and Materialise CO-AM enables users to create workflows that improve traceability, quality control, and machine utilisation. Optimised build job management allows production leads to track planned and actual machine activities and optimise machine time.
To ensure continuous production, real-time machine monitoring provides operators and engineers with critical process data, including build status, material usage, and machine sensor data. This data can be collected and stored in log files of additively manufactured jobs to enhance traceability and quality control. In addition to their AM machines, Metal Jet users can connect process-relevant HP machinery to the CO-AM platform, such as Powder Management Station, Curing Station, and Powder Removal Station. This integration allows Metal Jet users to streamline post-processing of metal parts within the manufacturing process.
CO-AM includes Materialise’s data and build preparation capability from Magics, which connects to HP AM machines via the HP Build Processor. Users may benefit from the proven toolset to prepare their build jobs for all major AM technologies. They can add workflow automation for repetitive tasks and use nesting to maximise the number of parts per job to increase machine utilisation.
Additionally, CO-AM provides access to complementary solutions from Materialise and third parties, including CO-AM partner solutions for design automation, mass customisation, automated labelling, and various post-processing technologies. CO-AM enables AM users to connect and manage technologies from different machine builders over one platform.
HP will showcase the CO-AM workflow with Multi Jet Fusion and Metal Jet at Formnext 2023 at 12.1, D41; Materialise will showcase its CO-AM and Magics technologies at 12.1, C139.
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