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2 August 2017

3D printing: TRUMPF presents highly productive multi-laser system

At the 22nd TCT Show in Birmingham, laser and laser system manufacturer TRUMPF will present its TruPrint 1000 3D printer with multi-laser option. What’s special about the system, which is designed to process metal powder, is its multi-laser principle: the highly productive TruPrint 1000 features two, 200-Watt fibre lasers that work in tandem to create components of the required shape by layering metal powder. The hallmarks of the system are the great flexibility it offers for satisfying specific customer demands and increased productivity.

In its standard version, the compact and robust TruPrint 1000 is equipped with one 200-Watt laser. Although TRUMPF developed the multi-laser version with two lasers with the dental industry in mind, this highly productive system is also suitable for other industries. The main advantage the multi-laser version has over the standard model is increased productivity. With no change in capacity utilisation, the machine generates up to 80 percent more parts; pure processing time for producing parts in the powder bed is cut almost in half.

Easy and intuitive to operate, the TruPrint 1000 can quickly and flexibly produce parts with a maximum diameter of 100 millimetres and up to 100 millimetres in height. It does this using the laser metal fusion (LMF) technique, in which one or more lasers melt metallic powder layer by layer in a powder bed to produce complex parts. LMF is particularly suited to the cost-effective and efficient manufacture of geometrically complex and custom parts – such as those required not only in the dental industry but also in the automotive, medical engineering, supply and jewellery industries.

Apart from the TruPrint 1000 TRUMPF will also introduce the new TruPrint 3000 and TruPrint 5000 3D printers to the market. These medium format machines are based on laser metal fusion (LMF) technology, using lasers to generate complete parts layer by layer in a powder bed. These parts can measure up to 300 millimetres in diameter and 400 millimetres in height. Thanks to an ingenious interchangeable cylinder concept, which allows the construction chamber and supply cylinders to be switched out quickly, and an industry-ready periphery, these new machines are geared towards the large-scale production of complex metal parts. What’s more, with the TruPrint 3000, TRUMPF is putting the spotlight on the complete process chain for additive manufacturing.

Both the TruPrint 3000 and TruPrint 5000 systems can be used to manufacture complex metal parts out of powder. Depending on the part in question, it may be made from any weldable material – such as various forms of steel, nickel-based alloys, titanium or aluminium – in powder form. Since the TruPrint 3000 is equipped with two supply cylinders, up to 75 litres of powder are available for each job, which is around two and a half times the construction volume – enough powder, in other words, to complete the entire manufacturing process without having to stop for refilling. And even if the powder were to run low, the ingenious tool change cylinder feature kicks in: the TruPrint 3000 is designed so that the supply and overflow cylinders can be changed out without interrupting the manufacturing process. This reduces downtimes while also increasing the 3D printer’s productivity.


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