PostProcess, EOS Create Partnership for Automated Depowdering

PostProcess Technologies is collaborating with EOS for a distribution partnership to provide a fully automated and sustainable depowdering solution for EOS customers. PostProcess Technologies is a provider of automated and intelligent postprocessing solutions for 3D printed parts, while EOS is a supplier of responsible manufacturing solutions via industrial 3D printing technology.

Complementing the EOS printer product range, the PostProcess Variable Acoustic Displacement (VAD) technology automates gross depowdering for 3D printed parts. The companies say this partnership will make it easier for customers to procure postprinting solutions, further enabling end-to-end digitization of the workflow from the part design through 3D printing and postprocessing.

It is said existing methods of powder removal are highly manual or semiautomated and can cause, in some cases, safety and sustainability issues. The solution by PostProcess using VAD is thermodynamically controlled with video and infrared monitoring while releasing, transferring and recovering loose powder particles, hands-free. 

The VAD technology is said to leverage software intelligence to optimize mechanical energy and intelligent closed-loop thermal and displacement techniques for bulk depowdering results, enabling full process chain automation. The powder removal and recovery achieved with VAD technology improves process performance and control, providing customers with enhanced sustainability and employee safety, repeatability and productivity, and lower operating costs, the companies say. Customers can print highly detailed and complex parts without worrying about breakage in the postprocessing step.

“We are proud to solidify this partnership with EOS, a global leader in industrial 3D printing, to help end users more easily adopt the complete workflow of additive manufacturing and scale their operations,” says Jeff Mize, PostProcess CEO.

It is said this partnership provides a digital connection that enables traceability and connectivity. “We found the perfect match with PostProcess in providing our customers with sustainable automated postprocessing for their delicate and complex parts manufactured using the EOS P 500,” says Nikolai Zaepernick, EOS chief business officer.

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• Listen to this episode of AM Radio to hear about the importance of depowdering and how it can change from a seemingly small issue to a larger challenge as production scales up.