Trumpf unveils new TruPrint 3000 to support mass production of metal AM
March 30, 2021
Trumpf GmbH & Co. KG, Ditzingen, Germany, recently unveiled its new TruPrint 3000 metal Additive Manufacturing machine at a virtual customer event. The medium-format 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. It can reportedly handle all weldable materials including steels, nickel-base alloys, titanium and aluminium.
The new AM machine can be equipped with a second laser that is said to almost double its productivity. Two 500-watt lasers scan the machine’s entire build chamber in parallel, making production much faster and efficient regardless of the number and geometries of the parts. With the Automatic Multilaser Alignment option, the machine can automatically monitor the multilaser scan fields during the build stage and calibrate them to each other. With each laser scanning a contour, the process does not lead to any kind of weld seams, explains the company.
Klaus Parey, Managing Director of Trumpf Additive Manufacturing, stated, “We’ve improved key aspects of the TruPrint 3000 to tailor it even more closely to the quality requirements, certifications and production processes of various industries. The multilaser option significantly reduces part costs – that’s how we help our customers make the move into mass production.”
The Trumpf team have transformed the movement of inert gas through the TruPrint 3000. The way in which it flows through the machine from back to front is now steadier and more uniform. In addition to boosting the quality of additively manufactured parts, this also allows the operator to remove excess powder from the part while it is still inside the machine. Previous models required the operator to take the part out and remove the powder at a separate station. The new machine is designed to process the powder in a shielded environment, using inert gas to prevent the powder from becoming contaminated during the build. A crucial advantage for sensitive industries such as medical device manufacturing notes Trumpf.
The new TruPrint 3000 also features a melt pool monitoring function that safeguards the quality of the part during the AM process by automatically monitoring melt pool emissions and other metrics. Special sensors in the laser optics continuously monitor the melt pool and a special piece of software compares these readings to the figures for a reference workpiece stored in its database and presents a graphical display of any deviations, such as a melt pool that is too cold or too hot. This gives machine operators the information they need to detect any errors and take whatever action may be necessary.
“The new TruPrint 3000 lets us tailor the process chain to perfectly match each customer’s manufacturing process,” added Parey. As well as the solution for powder removal within the machine, the TruPrint 3000 also offers an exchangeable cylinder principle with external unpacking and depowdering stations. This has several advantages, allowing the machine to better meet the customer’s specific needs, respond to growing production volumes and keep downtime to a minimum by working in parallel with production.
