When I had the chance to meet Mr Herzog, Concept Laser’s Founder and CEO, he told me that their primary concern was meeting demand and that Concept Laser’s Laser CUSING technology, a type of selective laser melting, would evolve as the industry demanded, by adding more lasers for incrementing speed, testing and optimizing new materials, and providing a more standardized and controlled environment for operation.
Said and done. The market demanded it and Concept Laser is answering by presenting all these (and more) innovations at the upcoming 2014 Euromold expo, taking place in Frankfurt at the end of November. For one of the largest metal 3D printer manufacturers it is the “home” show, since it is located in Lichtenfelds, about two hours west of the city on the Main river, and it is going to make it count.
The industry has been demanding double lasers systems for sometime and Concept Laser will present its own multi-laser technology, which has been optimized, says Olivier Edelman, Vice President Global Sales & Marketing, “to highlight our expertise and pioneering work in all fields of laser melting system technology”. Concept Laser also reveals that improvements have been made in terms of the build strategy for its LaserCUSING systems, with an optimized exposure strategy at the core of machine design innovations.
Mr. Herzog also spoke with me about materials, explaining that there is an infinite number of materials that could be used in SLM, the only limit is the time necessary to research them, with the prospect of continuos expansion and meeting machine demand draining the company’s resources. Apparently, though, not enough to keep the R&D team from working on a range of new materials, which will also be presented at Euromold, focusing especially on the medical and aerospace industries.
One more announcement will be made concerning improved real-time monitoring of the build process, something competitor EOS has also made a primary focus during the past months. “’Inline Process Monitoring’ is one of Concept Laser’s strategic technological fields”, said Edelmann. “We will be taking a giant stride where process monitoring is concerned. This will improve quality massively.”
Speed, optimized design, materials, process monitoring: in case you were wondering in which directions the metal 3D printing industry was moving, you need to look no further than Concept Laser’s stand at the next Euormold.
