Laser Powder Bed Fusion - a process for everything? We are sometimes asked why we have eight (!) different AM processes for metals at Fraunhofer IFAM, if PBF-LB is available everywhere. The reason is simple, lasers can't do everything. It starts with the fact that the laser process is essentially welding and materials that are difficult to weld or prone to hot cracking, such as Al6061, the cutting steel M2, the nickel-based superalloy CM247LC or WCCo, are difficult or even impossible with LPBF. Furthermore, each process has its own sweet spot in terms of part size and productivity, to name just two parameters. This is illustrated below for the processes at Fraunhofer IFAM. For these reasons, we have the widest range of AM processes for metal worldwide to offer our customers the best AM process for their application. You want to use metal AM, but you don't know which technology is the right one? Come to us, we know! Want to know more about our possibilities? Visit us at Formnext - Where ideas take shape, Hall 11.0 booth D31 IF AM, then Fraunhofer IFAM #AdditiveScreenPrinting #3DScreenPrinting #MetalBinderJetting #GelCasting #MoldJet #FusedFilamentFabrication #ElectronBeamMelting #LaserPowderBedFusion #LMM
Great post Thomas Studnitzky! So few people know of other AM processes! This graphic does an excellent job explaining that there are advantages and drawbacks to each process. It was great meeting you at ICAM and I look forward to connecting further with you and the team at Fraunhofer IFAM!
Principal Scientist at Freemelt - Manufacturer of Open Source Additive Manufacturing Systems
2wI couldn't agree more! Additive Manufacturing has been around for decades, and still today, I meet people living in illusion that "Additive Manufacturing" and "Laser Powder Bed Fusion" are synonyms. 🤦♂️