Meltio Unveils Engine Blue: A Game-Changer in Metal 3D Printing
The Meltio Engine Blue, set to debut at Formnext 2024, is a revolutionary industrial metal printing machine featuring a compact, fiberless design, 1.4 kW blue laser, and advanced robotic arms integration.
Meltio has announced during the first day of Formnext 2024 (19-22 November in Frankfurt, Germany, the new Meltio Engine Blue, an integration kit that enhances and streamlines the manufacturing process of metal parts with both industrial robotic arms and vertical machining centers, leveraging Meltio's wire-laser metal 3D printing technology.
This system is now available on the market as an integration kit, as a natural evolution of its predecessor, the Meltio Engine using infrared lasers. The Meltio Engine Blue simplifies manufactured metal parts and accelerates printing capability and adoption speed for vertical machining centers and industrial robot arms using its wire-laser metal DED technology in factories and machine shops.
"The new Meltio Engine Blue represents a crucial breakthrough in Meltio's directed energy deposition (DED) technology, designed specifically to respond to the current demands of the manufacturing industry around the world. For our industrial customers, the Meltio Engine Blue represents a significant improvement in reliability and deposition rate, enabling increased production speed and quality. With a fiber-optic-free system and a 1.4 kW blue laser head, we have simplified integration into robotic arms and vertical machining centers, reducing maintenance times and eliminating common problems such as the need for continuous laser alignment. This approach will allow our customers to optimize their processes, reducing downtime and improving compatibility with a wide range of materials,” explains Meltio Product Manager, Alejandro Nieto.
The Meltio Engine Blue directs the work of the print head where the Blue Lasers melt the metal material - stainless steel, titanium, copper, aluminum, and nickel among other materials - making it possible to print metal parts with high reliability and optimal final density, suitable for a wide range of industrial applications.
The value proposition of the new Meltio Engine Blue for industrial sectors such as automotive, aerospace, energy, naval, defense, mining, oil and gas, among other industries, is based on its ease of integration and high reliability, factors that differentiate it in the industrial market from other direct metal deposition (DED) additive manufacturing devices.
By eliminating the need for constant laser alignment and featuring an improved wire feeding system, this new industrial solution allows for more continuous and uninterrupted operation. Its more compact and lightweight design optimizes its compatibility with a wider range of vertical machining centers and robotic arms, and it also includes an upgraded safety features reaching highest Performance Level (depends on integration), ensuring a high level of protection in the industrial environment. These enhancements mean that our customers can achieve higher productivity and lower operating costs.
Unlike other industrial metal 3D printing solutions, the new Meltio Engine Blue offers all types of industries that need to manufacture metal parts with additive manufacturing technology a compact system without fiber optics or collimators, a deposition head with integrated camera and quick connectors, facilitating the installation and maintenance process.
In addition, the use of Blue Lasers reduces energy consumption by 30% and offers a deposition rate up to 3.5 times higher than the previous version. These features, along with its ability to work with complex materials and its continuous production-oriented design, make the Meltio Engine Blue ideal for industrial environments seeking productivity and precision.
“The development of the new Meltio Engine Blue has been a painstaking process of more than two years, in which our engineering team has worked collaboratively with our partners and integrators to identify and overcome the challenges faced with the V3. Among the most important industry demands were the need to reduce maintenance time, increase reliability, and improve deposition rate. The elimination of components such as fiber optics and collimators has simplified the system, while the blue laser head and dual power supply system allow continuous and flexible operation, adapting to different materials and applications,” says Alejandro Nieto.
He also adds: “While maintaining the foundation of integration into industrial robotic arms and vertical machining centers, the Meltio Engine Blue introduces substantial improvements in power, reliability, and ease of use, positioning itself as a disruptive option within our range of metal 3D printing solutions offered by Meltio to industries worldwide.”
Meltio Engine Blue responds to the needs of the industry
This new system marks the next step forward from the Meltio V3, the predecessor to the Meltio Engine Blue, designed to address the limitations of the previous version and better meet the demands of the current market. Providing higher deposition rates, minimizing maintenance, and a built-in process camera, Meltio Engine Blue responds to the needs of the production environments that work with metal materials.
Consider this solution if you:
- Require higher deposition rates for enhanced productivity
- Operate in a high-demand production environment
- Aim to minimize maintenance requirements for increased uptime
- Work with complex materials that require advanced handling
- Need an integrated process camera for real-time monitoring
What are the main advantages of the Meltio Engine Blue?
- Easier integration, compact system, lightweight, smaller screen option, all quick connections
- Stronger and more reliable feeder and movement system / Dual feeder (no external motors) / No reservoir, wire roller liner for both materials (10m)
- High-quality servo motors on T0, T1, and Z axes
- Encoders on feeders and absolute encoder on the Z axis
- High absorption blue laser head: Integrated head camera / Fiberless and collimatorless / No laser alignment necessary
- Enhanced safety level: Service mode (key) and redundant internal safety with upgraded Performance Level
- Upgraded process control / Increased compatibility with titanium
- Option to acquire additional heads for deployable systems
- Wide range of compatible materials
Key features
- 1.4 kW Blue Laser, factory calibrated
- Stronger and more reliable dual wire feeders
- Compact and simple system
- All quick-connect components
- Easier integration
- Advanced process control
- More stable and compatible performance
- 27” and 17” screen options
- Melt pool camera on the head
- Maximum safety Performance level
New Meltio metal parts showed at Formnext 2024
Meltio will be exhibiting at Formnext 2024, showcasing unique and innovative metal printed parts produced using its cutting-edge wire-laser metal 3D printing solutions. These parts were printed utilizing new materials such as marine bronze and copper, as well as dual-wire materials. Additionally, some parts have been printed on a build plate integrating four materials: tool steel, mild steel, marine bronze, and stainless steel.
www.meltio3d.com
