MIRACLE GROW
Thinking Outside the Box: Facing high materials and energy costs, this precision manufacturer of injection molds and prototype tooling compared laser-sintering vs. traditional machining for its tooling and mold inserts. Whoa! These results may surprise you, too.
Posted: September 19, 2008
EOS GmbH Electro Optical Systems, a manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, issued the results of data gathered by Linear Mold & Engineering (Livonia, MI), which compared manufacturing times for creating molds and mold inserts in Direct Metal Laser-Sintering (DMLS) against traditional machining processes. The data were assembled during two-and-a-half years of costing out more than 50 commercial tool and mold projects across a wide variety of industries.
These results demonstrate that, for many applications, DMLS significantly reduces production times and therefore costs. Cost savings using DMLS range between 15 and 30 percent, depending upon the complexity of the part.
Because Linear has longstanding experience with machining, CNC tooling, EDM, and other tool and mold making processes, the company maintains a library of benchmark figures for how long different projects will take using these methods. Over the past three years, Linear has manufactured molds and inserts in Cobalt Chrome, GP1 (17-4) stainless steel, and DirectMetal-20 using DMLS. Table 1 shows some examples of some typical moldmaking projects, showing estimated production times for machining versus the actual time for DMLS.
ONE LAYER AT A TIME
The DMLS additive manufacturing process begins with a CAD file defining each layer of a cross-sectioned model. 20 to 40 µm thin layers of metal powder are deposited onto a build platform and laser-sintered by a focused laser beam. The platform then lowers and the process repeats, layer-by-layer, until a 3D metal part is produced. DMLS can "grow" parts, even those with extremely complex geometries, in just a few hours.
John Tenbusch, president of Linear, says, "Given the high cost of materials and energy these days, we are always on the lookout for savings and efficiencies. Often, when we compare our production times between laser-sintering and other manufacturing methods, using DMLS is the obvious choice."
"Linear is a creative, innovative customer," comments Jim Fendrick, vice president of EOS of North America. "John and his staff are constantly exploring the capabilities of DMLS to shorten manufacturing cycles and grow parts that wouldn't be as cost-effective, or wouldn't even be manufacturable, using traditional processes."
DMLS on the EOSINT M 270 is a form of additive manufacturing. The process begins with a CAD file that defines each layer of a cross-sectioned model. 20 to 40 µm thin layers of metal powder are deposited onto a build platform and laser-sintered by a focused laser beam. The platform is then lowered and the process repeated, layer-by-layer, until a three-dimensional metal part is produced. DMLS can "grow" parts, even those with extremely complex geometries, in just a few hours.
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Linear Mold & Engineering, 34435 Glendale, Livonia, MI 48150, 734-422-6060, Fax: 734-422-4118, www.linearmold.com.
EOS of North America Inc., 28970 Cabot Drive, Ste. 700, Novi, MI 48377-2978, 248-306-0143, Fax: 248-306-0298, www.eos.info.
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