Micro scale laser based additive manufacturing for metals Available to Purchase

Additive manufacturing processes have gained great significance in the last several years. The additive manufacturing techniques most commonly used for metallic components are the laser based processes Selective Laser Melting (SLM) for producing new parts and Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) for repairing and modifying existing components. Since they manufacture without tools and offer a great freedom of geometry, these additive processes enable functionally optimized components to be produced, e.g. in automobile, tools as well in aviation and turbine construction. For this reason, these processes are increasingly making their way into industrial manufacturing chains. To date SLM and LMD process, machines and applications are focused on manufacturing of macro parts with minimum structure sizes in the range >200µm. In order to enlarge the range of application towards micro scale parts with structure sizes <100µm, process and equipment has to be developed accordingly. In this paper the basic principle of the processes, the current developments in process and equipment towards micro scale parts as well as practical examples from industrial applications will be presented.