Meltio Unveils New Solutions

Meltio, a laser metal deposition technology manufacturer, has made a move toward facilitating the use of its metal 3D printing solutions.

The Spanish multinational has presented two new solutions to advance metal part manufacturing for creating accuracy parts: the Meltio Horizon software and new Laser Calibration System.

“We have developed the Meltio Horizon software and the Laser Calibration System with the aim of facilitating the use of Meltio’s metal 3D printing technology for industries around the world," says Ángel Llavero, CEO of Meltio. "At Meltio, with the launch of our new software, we facilitate and shorten the learning time for you to democratize metal 3D printing so that your software is accessible and easy to use for many different profiles within a company. The Laser Calibration System will give industrial companies a new tool to be able to work with guaranteed reliability in the creation of their metal parts.” 

Meltio Horizon

Meltio Horizon is a toolpath generator software that ensures a tailored customer experience around its plug-and-play metal 3D printer, the Meltio M450, with its features and custom-developed Meltio print and material profiles included. The new software solution is tailored to use the laser wire metal deposition process with the Meltio M450. 

The new Meltio Horizon provides access to Meltio’s laser-wire process, and material-specific parameters such as laser power, dual wire and hot wire settings. With the Meltio Horizon software, all material-related settings are directly in the slicing software, allowing for full control and a single profile. This also allows us to create more specialized printing profiles, with the power to directly control the laser and hot wire on a “per slicing feature” basis, rather than being set for the full part.

This slicer is currently only compatible with the Meltio M450 metal 3D printer. For Meltio Engines (CNC and Robot Integration), the company is working on developing its open software ecosystem partnerships that allow the generation of 5 Axis G-Codes.

Laser Calibration System

In addition, Meltio has launched a Laser Calibration System as an accessory (kit) to aid the reliability and ease of use of Meltio’s machines, ensuring a faster print process to enhance user experience.

The Laser Calibration System allows Meltio users to calibrate Meltio’s multi-laser deposition head accurately on all three of its metal 3D printing solutions. The system consists of a laser alignment camera that has to be placed under the printhead as it allows for a clear view of the focus point of the lasers. The camera is controlled using a portable controller, which also is included in the kit as well as a software specifically designed to filter the camera image and guide the user to focus each laser on the most optimal point.

Meltio’s multi-laser metal 3D printing technology is based on the use of six lasers pointing to a mutual point to melt the welding wire fed through the center of the deposition head. The lasers generate a high concentration of energy, called meltpool, that melts the metal feedstock. Weld beads are stacked precisely on top of one another.

The alignment of each laser is critical so they hit the exact point where the energy is concentrated. The camera makes the calibration process easy to follow.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.