3D Metalforge commissions new high performance metal printer
3D Metalforge has demonstrated its H-WAAM printer is capable of faster, large format and multi-part metal printing.
Newly listed 3D Metalforge (ASX: 3MF) has announced the successful testing and commissioning of its latest hybrid wire arc printer, which is capable of faster, larger and multi-part metal printing.
In today’s market update, the company revealed the H-WAAM printer is capable of printing larger format parts up to 1.5m and can print multiple parts simultaneously, giving “significant production flexibility” to produce larger production volumes quickly or production runs with different part designs.
The final commissioning tests, involving parts printed in high strength alloy material, also successfully demonstrated “exemplary mechanical properties” in X96, a high-performance weld wire.
“The ability to work with such high-performance weld wires opens a wider range of more cost-effective feedstock for future part production, allowing 3D Metalforge to produce larger and high strength parts in a wide range of materials at lower cost,” the company stated.
The additive manufacturing company, which listed on the ASX in early March after raising $10 million through an oversubscribed initial public offering, has been developing the H-WAAM printer over the past two years in collaboration with the Singapore University of Technology and Design.
Opens up opportunities in maritime, oil and gas sectors
The initial technology is exclusively licensed to 3D Metalforge for service bureau use in the oil and gas and maritime sector for a 10-year period.
3D Metalforge chief executive officer Matthew Waterhouse said the company is excited to see this printer “open up large new opportunities in the maritime, oil and gas, and defence sectors”.
The capability of the H-WAAM printer is expected to allow further expansion of metal printing into larger parts for these sectors.
“These sectors have a high volume of such larger parts that are beyond the production envelope of traditional SLM (selective laser melting) printers,” the company said.
The commissioning of this printer builds on the company’s existing portfolio of proprietary and third-party printers which include SLM, directed energy deposition, polymer print farm and multi-jet fusion printers.
It also builds on the capabilities across the client, intelligence and integration layers of the company’s integrated business model.