DMG MORI Prepares for New Additive Debut in the United States

When machine tool manufacturer DMG MORI acquired 50.1 percent of shares in German additive manufacturing company Realizer, the former company was investing in the latter’s 20-plus years of experience in selective laser melting (SLM) technologies for industrial applications. That controlling share acquisition, which took place just over a year ago, was part of DMG MORI’s strategy to further complement its robust product line of CNC lathes and machining centers with a greater array of additive manufacturing capabilities.

It now appears that DMG MORI is set to debut its first product from the recently acquired asset to the U.S. market. The company recently confirmed to Additive Manufacturing Magazine that its Lasertec 30 SLM machine will make its U.S. debut at the DMG MORI Innovation Days event in Chicago this coming May.  

I had the chance to view the Lasertec 30 SLM machine at DMG MORI’s open house exhibition in Pfronten, Germany, earlier this year. The key selling point of the powder-bed machine, which made its European debut at this event in 2017, is its exchangeable powder module system—essentially a removable chamber attachment that allows the user to change materials quickly during after or during a build.

“You can make material changes from titanium to aluminum or any number of materials in under two hours,” said the DMG MORI material development representative who introduced me to the machine. “You just pull the cart out, clean a bit, change the loader system and put the new powder cart in.” 

Other key features of the machine include application-specific laser sources from 400 watts to 1 kW depending on application, integrated exhaust with recirculation for direct powder recycling within the machine, and integration with CELOS, DMG MORI’s app-based control and operating system. 

The DMG MORI rep told me that the Lasertec 30 SLM will be applicable for use across industries, including automotive (aluminum, titanium, steel), precise dental implants (cobalt chrome, steel) and joint or bone implants (titanium) for the medical industry, heat exchangers and blades for aerospace (aluminum, titanium), and tooling with conformal cooling channels for small production runs and prototypes in the mold-and-die industry.

I also received word that DMG MORI will debut at the Innovation Days event what it’s calling the Lasertec 65 Shape Hybrid, although the company did not provide details or comment further. This follows the U.S. debut last year of the Lasertec 65 3D hybrid (a machine we’ve written about here) which integrates laser deposition welding with five-axis milling.