Velo3D Debuts 8-Laser Machine for Parts This Size and Bigger
Sapphire system scales up — see the new machine along with examples of large metal parts 3D printed in one piece.
Share
Read Next
For powder-bed additive manufacturing machines, size opens the way to productivity. A larger build volume offers the chance to produce an increased quantity of parts efficiently by grouping more of them into the build. However, another advantage of size is … size! Bigger parts can be made in one piece through AM thanks to bigger machines.
This part is an example. The 21-inch-diameter Inconel 718 stator ring with internal cooling channels was made on Velo3D’s Sapphire XC. This metal AM system is capable of producing parts 600 mm in diameter by 550 mm in height, and also features 8 lasers for high throughput. The Sapphire XC system, the first unit of which shipped to SpaceX in December 2021, is making its public debut in Velo3D’s booth at IMTS in 2022.
Like previous Sapphire machines, the new larger model includes control features aimed at minimizing the need for support structures. The stator blade illustrates this. Its low-angle blades were printed without supports despite the overhang they presented during printing. Other never-before-seen parts in the Velo3D booth were also made on the new Sapphire XC.
This 21-inch Inconel stator ring was produced on new larger-size Sapphire powder bed fusion machine. Photo Credit: Velo3D
Related Content
-
Additive Manufacturing Is Subtractive, Too: How CNC Machining Integrates With AM (Includes Video)
For Keselowski Advanced Manufacturing, succeeding with laser powder bed fusion as a production process means developing a machine shop that is responsive to, and moves at the pacing of, metal 3D printing.
-
Postprocessing Steps and Costs for Metal 3D Printing
When your metal part is done 3D printing, you just pull it out of the machine and start using it, right? Not exactly.
-
Possibilities From Electroplating 3D Printed Plastic Parts
Adding layers of nickel or copper to 3D printed polymer can impart desired properties such as electrical conductivity, EMI shielding, abrasion resistance and improved strength — approaching and even exceeding 3D printed metal, according to RePliForm.
