St. Paul, MN (December 16, 2020) — Matsuura’s hybrid additive/subtractive machining is Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS), a method of additive manufacturing where 3D parts are constructed from very fine, granular metal powder. The process involves melting and sintering metal powder with a fine laser, fusing the powder together one layer at a time to create the finished part or prototype, which can then be machined and finished in the same way as one produced by CNC.
DMLS creates functional metal prototypes and rapid tooling in short order radically impacting design processes, accelerating design cycles and time to market. Since its introduction in the early nineties, the process has been used to produce a wide range of prototypes and functional parts across the automotive, aerospace, and medical/dental industries.
Metal parts of the most complex geometries with high detail resolution and exceptional surface quality are built layer-by-layer by selectively melting layers of metal powder on top of each other with a laser.
This one minute video, Mr. Orito, LUMEX application engineer, explains how the Pre-milling powder suction removes excess powder prior to milling. The pre-milling powder suction uses a vacuum nozzle, located on the right of the spindle, to remove excess powder prior to milling.
This function prevents powder from contaminating tools, enabling high-speed milling, while reducing tool wear and improving surface finish.
Employing the pre-milling powder suction, the milling speed is increased, resulting in less processing time.
Matsuura customers are realizing the value of this manufacturing technology, including deep rib and conformal cooling channels, porous venting, and the reduction of cycle time.
With the Matsuura LUMEX Technology supports quick-turn manufacturing, which means the ability to build a component in days versus weeks or months, with reduced tooling costs.
According to 3DPrint.com, Matsuura customer Owen Greenings & Mumford Ltd. used a LUMEX Avance-25 to fabricate mold tool inserts featuring curved and spiral-shaped conformal cooling channels that introduce consistency to the injection molding process.
Other parts made using Matsuura’s technology include molds for a waterproof connector that typically required multiple components, a digital camera mold with an internal lattice structure, a mold for an electric drive featuring water channels for reducing cooling times, and the cavity and core molds for a fan that can be manufactured simultaneously within a single build.
Matsuura’s hybrid machines have been used to make a variety of general industrial parts, including a face mill that was redesigned with a lattice structure that reduced the weight of the part by 23 percent. The weight of a blisk was cut by 44 percent by fabricating it with lattices and a hollow structure. A cooling fin was also produced featuring surface shapes that could only be made using a hybrid 3D printer, with no additional cutting work required.
GE uses the Matsuura LUMEX Avance-25 system to fabricate control valve parts for the company’s Kariwa oil and gas plant in Japan, according to 3DPrint.com. The part includes curved shapes, meshes and hollow structures that could only be produced with this hybrid technology.
According to SME, hybrid manufacturing presents six percent of medical 3D printing applications. Hybrid manufacturing is deployed for two percent of medical prototyping, three percent for making anatomical models, three percent of surgical guides fabrication, and five percent for orthotics and prosthetics
In these instances, the incorporation of cooling channels or the incorporation of 3D printable lattice geometries are meant to speed up the cooling time of injection molds, while also improving consistency. As with traditionally 3D printed molds, the use of simulation software can allow for the optimization of this tooling to reduce weight and cooling time, thus speeding up the entire manufacturing process.
Matsuura has multiple customer case studies, all showing 25% to 45% reductions in cycle time reductions, the Matsuura LUMEX Technology is transformative in the industry.
Visit HERE to read how Matsuura customers are implementing the technology.
Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc., located in St. Paul, MN is the U.S. subsidiary of Matsuura Machinery Corporation in Japan. Since 1935, Matsuura has been the forerunner in designing innovative technology and manufacturing solutions to a variety of industries around the globe. Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. delivers unmatched excellence in 5-axis, vertical, horizontal, linear motor, multi-tasking CNC machine tools and machines with a powder bed metal AM platform with machining capability. Matsuura Machinery USA, Inc. provides the service, applications and technical field support that have always been the Matsuura standard for business. For more information on Matsuura LUMEX products, please contact: [email protected].