nLIGHT launches 2 kW dynamic beam shaping laser for Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacturing
November 7, 2024
nLIGHT, Inc, based in Camas, Washington, USA, has announced the production launch of its Corona AFX-2000, a two-kilowatt laser with proprietary beam shaping technology which aims to boost productivity in Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing.
The AFX-2000 has reportedly undergone successful commercial validation with a leading customer supporting the aerospace, defence, and automotive end markets. Using aluminium alloys, this customer is now said to be achieving build speeds up to three times faster when compared to other large-format PBF-LB Additive Manufacturing machines.
Using dynamic laser beam shaping, the AFX-2000 is said to successfully deliver twice the amount of available power compared to current state-of-the-art lasers while maintaining a stable process. The increased power that AFX-2000 provides enables higher productivity and lower cost per part while maintaining the stability needed to produce high quality parts.
“The exclusive beam profiles of the AFX-2000 have brought [PBF-LB] print speeds to exciting new levels while maintaining precision, control and material quality for laser powder bed fusion,” said Rob Martinsen, Chief Technology Officer of nLIGHT. “The dynamic beam shaping technology in these lasers allows for productivity-optimised switching between profiles ideal for fine-scale features and contour exposures, to extremely fast and highly reproduceable build rates using ring beam profiles, making it the most versatile and efficient laser available for metal AM.“
“We anticipate the AFX-2000 to be widely adopted for highly reflective alloys such as aluminium and copper, materials that benefit greatly from stable, high-brightness laser processing,” he continued. “The AFX-2000 will enable our customers to meaningfully reduce part costs for high-volume manufacturing.”
Now in production, the AFX-2000 is offered in nLIGHT’s modulus platform, an integrated multi-laser sub-system designed for ultra-high-productivity PBF-LB Additive Manufacturing machines. The modulus platform aims to simplify the integration, control, and serviceability of multi-laser machines, while enabling new levels of machine utilisation and reproducibility of production parts
nLIGHT will unveil the AFX-2000 at Formnext 2024, scheduled to take place November 19-22 in Frankfurt, Germany. As part of the event, the company is hosting a multi-day Powered by Beam Shaping seminar series with speakers from 3D Systems, Aconity3D, AMCM, DMG Mori USA, EOS, and Nikon SLM Solutions. The series will highlight new use cases for the Corona AFX beam-shaping technology in several markets.
Discover more about dynamic beam shaping in our exclusive article:
Dynamic beam shaping: Unlocking productivity for cost-effective Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion
