Optics manufacturer Zeiss and AM firm EOS are joining forces to offer a 3D printing system with inline process monitoring capability.
The details of the collaboration will be presented at Formnext 2021 from 16 to 19 November.
What is currently known is that Zeiss will look to integrate its Zeiss AM In-process Monitoring solution to one of EOS’ direct metal laser melting printers.
A uniformly distributed powder bed is essential for stable and reliable additive manufacturing. To detect grooves and elevations in the powder bed with a high degree of certainty, Zeiss’ AM In-process Monitoring technology is able to capture height information of the powder bed.
It then analyses the acquired 3D information using a trained neural network, providing automatically marked and classified irregularities in the powder bed.
By integrating this process monitoring solution into EOS’ printer, the firms’ customers will be given the possibility to supervise their powder bed and assess its quality during and after the printing process. This will allow them to intervene manually or automatically according to predefined rules.
An evenly distributed powder bed is essential for a stable and reliable additive manufacturing process. (Image: EOS)
'We are confident that Zeiss can contribute with this product to help further industrialise additive manufacturing and that with EOS we found a strong partner for a successful market entry,' commented Heiko Degen, business development manager of additive manufacturing process & control at Zeiss.
Dominik Hawelka, product line manager at EOS, added: 'The automated analysis of the powder bed quality and quick reaction to identify defects opens immense potential for cost savings. We are, therefore, developing an interface for our EOS M 290 that enables the communication of a Zeiss solution on our 3D printing system. As an example, information from the Zeiss product can be used to correct detected powder bed defects by triggering a second recoat step.'
Zeiss will be at hall 12.1, booth B81 at Formnext this year, while EOS will be in hall 21.1, booth D01.