The bright minds at Toshiba have developed a new nozzle that has enabled the company to build a 3D metal printer that it says is 10 times faster than units that rely on powder bed fusion.
Toshiba will showcase the new 3D metal printer at Monozukuri Matching Japan 2015, which will be held on Dec. 2 to 4.
If current powder bed fusion printers can be thought of as inkjet printers, then Toshiba's new machine would be likened to a laser printer. Powder bed fusion techniques employ lasers, but the trick here is in the way the "print head" works.
Toshiba's LMD (Laser Metal Deposition) printer uses lasers to sinter - or melt just shy of the point of liquidation - tiny metal particles, modeling these into whatever shape the computer-aided design calls for.
The secret to the LMD printer's high-speed output is the new nozzle, which was developed based on the company's knowledge and expertise in fluid simulation technology. The nozzle's design enables the printer to decrease the size of the area to which metal particles are deposited. Meanwhile, the laser beam's job is to focus on this precise area covered by the particles.
The machine and its 800-watt laser output can fabricate metal parts at a speed of 110 cubic centimeters (6.71 cubic inches) an hour, about 10 times faster than conventional means. Toshiba also says the new 3D metal printer can be used to build large structures at costs much lower than current methods.
The new LMD printer, sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Economy, is actually the result of an internal partnership between Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Machine. Each Toshiba business has a role in the development and marketing of the LMD printer going forward.
"Toshiba Machine will manufacture the LMD 3D printers and market them to customers, along with its computer-controlled machine tools, as a means to create value for customers," says Toshiba. "Toshiba will use LMD 3D printers to manufacture parts for social infrastructure systems, in order to improve production efficiency."
Toshiba hopes to put the new machine into practice as early as 2017.
