SLM Solutions and Honeywell to qualify new AM parameters for increased build thickness
December 3, 2019
SLM Solutions Group AG, headquartered in Lübeck, Germany, has partnered with Honeywell International Inc., Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, to help qualify new metal Additive Manufacturing parameters that enable manufacturing at increased thicknesses to reduce production times and costs.
As part of the partnership, Honeywell’s Aerospace division will begin qualification efforts for aluminium builds using increased layer thicknesses of 60 and 90 µm on the SLM®500 Additive Manufacturing machine. SLM Solutions will provide its standard aluminium parameter sets for Honeywell to complete material qualification using its systems to achieve optimal material properties.
“SLM Solutions’ latest technology will help Honeywell improve productivity while also meeting our material requirements for qualification,” stated Dr Sören Wiener, Senior Director of Technology and Advanced Operations for Honeywell’s Aerospace business. “We intend to qualify these parameter sets through repeatability testing in our production environment, including build and post-processing to generate an efficient process with a set of material property data.”
Meddah Hadjar, CEO of SLM Solutions Group AG, added, “As the productivity leaders in Powder Bed Fusion, SLM Solutions has been continuously working to reduce build times by combining high-powered lasers with advanced parameter sets. Our open-architecture machines allow for customisation, and we’ve shown over 60% reduction in build time with 170% real build rate increases compared to standard 30 µm parameters on our twin-laser machines.”
“We’re excited to work together with Honeywell Aerospace to further advance the industry through the qualification of even more advanced parameter sets for quad-laser systems used in qualified serial production,” he concluded.
