I originally quoted this information titling it "Electron Beam Melting". However, I realized most people don't know what Electron Beam Melting is. So, I retitled it, "3d printing of Titanium objects through electron beam melting" so more people would know what this is about. I found it fascinating that the additive process also could extend to metal objects in addition to plastic ones. I believe over time the additive 3d printing process will include more types of metal objects like aluminum, steel, bronze, brass etc. as ways to do this with metal powder and electron beams become developed and cost effective and therefore efficient enough to do this around the world.
For example, my thought is that a sculptor could sculpt in clay or another medium then convert his or her work to a type of metal, then lasers could analyze the object and perfectly duplicate this object (whatever it is) as many times as was useful to the sculptor. Or a person could have a pattern piece of metal that could be lasered for an exact copy and it could be made as many times as it was useful at home or in their shop around the world.
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Electron beam melting
Apparently, Electron Beam Melting is a process by which 3D printing of Titanium objects of any shape can be created. Here is what Wikipedia has on the subject so far:
Electron beam melting
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2010) |
Contents |
Technology
This solid freeform fabrication method produces fully dense metal parts directly from metal powder with characteristics of the target material. The EBM machine reads data from a 3D CAD model and lays down successive layers of powdered material. These layers are melted together utilizing a computer controlled electron beam. In this way it builds up the parts. The process takes place under vacuum, which makes it suited to manufacture parts in reactive materials with a high affinity for oxygen, e.g. titanium.The melted material is from a pure alloy in powder form of the final material to be fabricated (no filler). For that reason the electron beam technology doesn't require additional thermal treatment to obtain the full mechanical properties of the parts. That aspect allows classification of EBM with selective laser melting (SLM) where competing technologies like SLS and DMLS require thermal treatment after fabrication. Comparatively to SLM and DMLS, EBM has a generally superior build rate because of its higher energy density and scanning method.
The EBM process operates at an elevated temperature, typically between 700 and 1 000 °C, producing parts that are virtually free from residual stress, and eliminating the need for heat treatment after the build.
Melt rate: up to 80 cm3/h. Minimum layer thickness: 0.05 millimetres (0.0020 in). Tolerance capability: +/- 0.2 mm.
This technology was developed by Arcam AB in Sweden.[1]
Market
Titanium alloys are widely used with this technology which makes it a suitable choice for the medical implant market.CE-certified acetabular cups are in series production with EBM since 2007 by two European orthopedic implant manufacturers, Adler Ortho and Lima Corporate. The acetabular cups are manufactured with integrated, engineered trabecular structures for enhanced osseointegration, and more than 20.000 cups have been implanted to date.
The U.S. implant manufacturer Exactech has also received FDA clearance for an acetabular cup manufactured with the EBM technology.
Aerospace and other highly demanding mechanical applications are also targeted.
The EBM process was recently developed for manufacturing parts in gamma titanium aluminide, and is currently used by Avio S.p.A. for the production of turbine blades in γ-TiAl for aero engines.
See also
References
- ^ “A Year Filled With Promising R&D”. Wohlers Associates, Inc. November/December 2002
Further reading
- Manufacturing Engineering and Technology Fifth Edition. Serope Kalpakjian.
External links
- Watch and Learn about electron beam melting
- Engineer's Handbook
- Automotive DesignLine
- Arcam process presentation (pdf)
Electron beam melting
I found more on this under the heading :"Electron Beam Technology"
Electron beam technology
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. (November 2011) |
Contents |
Electron beam melting
Any material can be melted by an electron beam in vacuum. This source of heat is absolutely clean, as well as the vacuum environment, so the purest materials can be produced in electron beam vacuum furnaces. For the production or refinement of rare and refractory metals the vacuum furnaces are of smaller volume, but for steels large furnaces with capacity in metric tons and electron beam power of megawatts are operated in industrialized countries.Electron beam welding
The above mentioned specific advantages of electron beam heating find the widest use in welding applications. Since the beginning of electron beam welding in industrial scale (end of 1950s) a countless number of electron beam welders with working vacuum chambers volume ranging from a few liters up to hundreds cubic meters, provided with electron guns with the power up to 100 kW have been designed and are used world wide.Electron beam surface treatment
The modern electron beam welders are usually provided with computer controlled deflection system, which can position the beam very fast and accurate over the selected area of the work-piece surface. Thanks to the high speed of heating, only a thin surface layer of the material is influenced, e.g. for "hardened", annealing, tempering, texturing, polishing(with argon gas present) etc. If the electron beam is used to cut a shallow trough in the surface, then repeatedly moving horizontally along the trough at high speeds it creates a small pile of ejected melted metal at the end of the trough, Upon repetition spike structures can be created up to a millimeter high. These can aid bonding between different materials and modify surface roughness of the metal.Electron beam additive manufacturing
Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to make objects from 3D model data, usually by melting powder material layer upon layer. Melting in vacuum by a computer controlled scanning electron beam is very advantageous. Electron beam direct manufacturing (DM) is the first commercially available, large-scale, fully programmable means of achieving near net shape parts.Electron beam machining
Electron-beam machining is a process where high-velocity electrons concentrated into a narrow beam with very high planar power density in the focus cross-section are directed toward the work piece, creating heat and vaporizing the material. Electron beam machining can be used for very accurate cutting or boring of a wide variety of metals. Surface finish is better and kerf width is narrower than those for other thermal cutting processes, but because the equipment acquisition costs are very high, the use of this technology is therefore limited economically.Electron beam lithography
Electron lithograph is a device in which a very fine electron beam is used to create micro-structures in the resist that can subsequently be transferred to the substrate material, often by etching. It was developed for manufacturing integrated circuits, and is also used for creating nanotechnology architectures. Electron beams with diameter ranging from 2 up to hundreds nano meters, are used in electron lithographs.The form of maskless lithography has found wide usage in photomask-making used in photolithography, low-volume production of semiconductor components, and research & development. The electron lithograph is also used to produce computer-generated holograms (CGH).
Electron beam metal powder production
The source billet metal is electron beam melted while being spun vigorously powder is produced as the metal cools while flying off the metal bar.Electron beam Physical Vapour deposition
Method of deposition in a vacuum thereby producing thin film solar cells by depositing thin layers of metals on to a backing structure.Electron microscope
An electron microscope uses a beam of electrons to illuminate a specimen and produce a magnified image.References
- Schultz, H.: Electron beam welding, Abington Publishing
- Von Dobeneck, D.: Electron Beam Welding – Examples of 30 Years of Job-Shop Experience
- www.ebt.isibrno: Electron beam welding (in Czech and/or English)
- Visser, A.: Werkstofabtrag Durch Elektronen-und Photonenstrahlen; Verlag,Blaue Reihe, Heft 104
Electron beam technology
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