EOS has announced the launch of its Smart Fusion software which has been designed to automatically adjust laser power inside metal powder bed fusion systems in real-time.
The company says Smart Fusion will help to address the need for support structures, while reducing material use, post-processing requirements, and cost-per-part for metal additive manufacturing applications.
Smart Fusion has been designed to intuitively detect potential build problems, auto-adjust the laser power, and eliminate wasted time and resources associated with ‘trial and error’. Through customer beta testing, EOS reports that Smart Fusion has ‘consistently resulted in performance that is two to five times faster’ than its competitors.
It works by measuring the amount of laser powder absorbed by the powder bed, with a high-resolution camera overlooking the build chamber to monitor each layer’s melt-pool emissions via proprietary technology. Data is fed back to the laser so that power is adjusted to ensure homogenous energy distribution across the whole build platform. This then helps to reduce stress in the parts and avoid metal overheating and movement in undesired directions.
“Smart Fusion is another important breakthrough for metal AM, especially for those organisations with highly engineered applications such as energy, space tech, mobility, and aerospace,” said Mirco Schöpf, EOS Product Liner Manager. “Other solutions in the market have significant drawbacks such as slower build times, and a need for an expert to make sure it works. Smart Fusion offers an industrialised solution that is faster, flexible, and more accessible.”
“When we learned about Smart Fusion and started to test it several months ago, we knew it would be a game-changer,” commented Stefan Seidel, Chief Technical Officer at Pankl Racing Systems. “Not only does it significantly reduce the part cost, but it is also a facilitator in the use of optical tomography which, in our view, is a key element to introduce AM for serial production. Over the past few months, we have developed several products with EOS which really show the potential of Smart Fusion.”
Pankl Racing Systems is one of multiple companies to have beta tested Smart Fusion, with EOS confirming a manufacturer of hardware for the space industry having also piloted the new product.
The new Smart Fusion works in tangent with EOS’ existing monitoring solutions, EOSTATE and EOSYSTEM to monitor, measure and adjust lasers. EOS is making Smart Fusion initially available with the following machines and materials:
- EOS M 290: Inconel IN718, HiPro 40/80 µm | Titanium Ti64, 60 µm | Aluminum AlSi10Mg 60 µm (late 2023) – €27,000/ $29,262
- EOS M 300-4: Inconel IN718, HiPro 80 µm | Ti64, 60 µm (late 2023) | AlSi10Mg 60 µm (late 2023) – €38,000/ $41,184
- EOS M 400-4: Inconel IN718, HiPro 40/80 µm | Titanium Ti64, 60 µm | AlSi10Mg 40/80 µm – €38,000/ $41,184
Smart Fusion requires EOS’ Smart Monitoring System package. EOS intends to soon expand Smart Fusion availability, including AMCM systems.
EOS will demonstrate the capabilities of Smart Fusion at RAPID + TCT from Booth #4612.
