In late 2015, additive manufacturing solutions developer EOS (Krailling, Germany) introduced its EOSTATE MeltPool solution as an add-on to the company's M 290 direct-metal laser sintering (DMLS) system. The tool paves the way for complete part traceability, as well as an automated surveillance and analysis of the melt pool during the DMLS build process.
After the EOSTATE MeltPool monitoring tool's market introduction, the company chose a handful of pilot customers to participate in a subsequent testing phase, which recently completed. The tool enables moving part quality assurance from post- to in-process, supporting improved risk management as well reducing time and costs for quality assurance and as a consequence overall costs per part, explains Lukas Fuchs, application development consultant - MeltPool for Monitoring Solutions at EOS.
Aviation engines maker TUSAS Engine Industries (TEI; Eskişehir, Turkey) was one company involved in the pilot phase: according to Semih Pilatin, technology programs manager at TEI, the company is planning to use the tool for aerospace engine parts manufacturing, where tight tolerances and high performance are expected. For example, he says, the company can capture potential part defects online at an early stage and with minimal effort to assess the part quality.
For more information, please visit www.eos.info.