Trumpf TruPrint 1000
Trumpf's TruPrint 1000, revealed at TCT Show 2016, which is built to produce complex metal parts quickly and flexibly.
Trumpf’s new TruPrint 1000, which was revealed for the first time in the UK at TCT’s 2016 exhibition, is built to produce complex metal parts quickly and flexibly.
The high-tech company is the world’s only manufacturer to have both laser metal deposition (LMD) – a process it introduced more than 15 years ago – and laser metal fusion (LMF) in its product range. Both use laser and metallic powder to create components based on data supplied directly by the CAD programme.
But with LMF, the technology employed by the new TruPrint 1000 system, the component is created layer by layer, from a bed of fine powder. It is it ideal for both complex geometric parts, such as those with internal channels and hollow spaces, and for the economical manufacture of individual parts or short production runs. This makes the TruPrint 1000 suitable for beginners and more experienced users alike.
With the user interface, optimised for simplified touch screen control, steering the operator through each single phase intuitively, the TruPrint 1000 can generate parts as big as 100mm in length and diameter.
All of the system’s components, from the laser to the filter and control units, are integrated into its compact housing. The component-growing process takes place in the process enclosure where the supply cylinder, construction chamber and overflow receiver are aligned.
The supply cylinder can hold up to 1.4 litres of stainless steel, tool steel, aluminium and other materials in powder form that can be welded. During the coating process, the powder is transferred to the construction chamber where the 200W laser fuses the first layer of powder, corresponding to the profile of the part.
Then, the chamber is lowered and any excess powder caught by the overflow receiver. The previous coating process will then be repeated until the part is complete. At every return of the supply cylinder, the coating mechanism is tilted slightly to allow it to retract quickly, avoiding collision with the powder bed or the part being created.
In order to prevent oxide formation and reduce the risk of fire, the entire process takes place inside the enclosure, blanketed by protective gas with a reduced oxygen content of just 0.1%.
