Machine manufacturer AddUp has introduced a new variation of its flagship product, the FormUp 350. Named FormUp 350 Evolution, the new variant comes with an increased manufacturing volume, as well as an architecture focused on reducing non-productive time.
One of its key characteristics is that it can produce parts up to one-meter high. AddUp says that with the FormUp 350 Evolution and its 185% larger volume, it becomes possible to print parts as large as combustion chambers, aircraft structural elements, missile bodies, or even large-capacity heat exchangers in a single operation. The new Evolution machine includes an extension of the Z axis and a manufacturing enclosure that is nearly identical to the existing FormUp 350 New Generation machine. This allows for total compatibility of recipes and parameters to create production-scale parts with the desired properties.
No wait between builds
While the manufacturing enclosure is inspired by the FormUp 350 machine, the Evolution machine features an architecture entirely focused on productivity. As printing tall parts traditionally involves long manufacturing times, AddUp engineers have worked to eliminate all non-productive time in the 3D printing process. The new machine is equipped with an extractible build chamber, which allows for the manufactured part and its build chamber to be removed from the machine immediately after build completion. This preserves the inert environment to guarantee part quality and powder reuse. A new platform can be placed inside the machine as soon as the previous chamber is removed, and the start of the next production can occur. The cooling of the previous build, as well as the vacuuming of the loose powder, can be carried out as a background task rather than taking up machine time, which can save several hours between productions.
Fully integrated into the FormUp 350 range
A “stretched” version of the FormUp 350 New Generation, the Evolution machine inherits all the characteristics that have made the FormUp range so successful, notably in the aeronautics, defense, and medical sectors. Just as with the FormUp 350 New Generation, this new machine offers flexibility with the choice of a roller or scraper recoating device and a number of lasers, up to 4,500W each. The quality of parts is second-to-none with the help of the 3-axis laser scanner capable of high precision reach to every point on the build plate.
In addition, all laser and chamber parameters are completely open, allowing manufacturers to optimize the mechanical characteristics of parts and their surface finish. The FormUp includes the highest level of safety on the market with the inclusion of an autonomous powder module and a fume filtration module that prevents the exposure of toxic or explosive substances to operators, even when using reactive powders. This also allows the powder properties to be maintained over the course of many productions, ensuring that the powder is never exposed to ambient air.
By introducing an L-PBF machine with an extended height of one meter, AddUp strived to meet the real need of production-level manufacturing – to produce large parts with a high level of complexity and precision.
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