Chiron extends its machine tool offerings to include additive manufacturing

The Chiron Group has expanded its core competencies in metalworking machines and automation systems to include laser metal deposition (LMD) additive manufacturing.

Its AM Cube is a metal 3D printer designed to manufacture large and complex components and is suitable for repairing and coating components as large as 500 mm. With LMD, explains the company’s website, a laser melts a feedstock material (Fe/Ni/Co-based) that is fused to the substrate (steel or nickel-based alloys) by metallurgical bonding. A reported benefit of the process is that it results in lower thermal loading.

The Cube’s modular design allows it to be configured with 3, 4, or 5 axes, and its wire, powder, and coating deposition heads can be changed automatically. And, unlike other 3D metal printers, says Chiron, the heads can be changed during the printing process. This facilitates the fulfillment of different process requirements. For example, one deposition head can be used to achieve a high-quality surface finish, while another can be used to achieve a high deposition volume.

Like the company’s CNC machining centers, the Cube’s operation is based on a conventional Cartesian coordinate system. The system is programmed either using a standardized DIN ISO code or, for complex components, with a CAD/CAM software tool.