Renishaw Debuts New Machinery Systems

Renishaw now offers a range of 3D printing machinery. The RenAM 500S Flex, a single laser additive manufacturing (AM) machine, and the RenAM 500Q Flex, a four laser AM machine, belong to the RenAM 500 range. Both systems have an easy-to-use powder handling system, targeting manufacturers that change out build materials during production.

The machinery has the same optical, chamber and gas-flow designs as the RenAM 500 series. The non-recirculating powder system enables manufacturers to easily change between materials.

Engineers can clean the system between powders by changing out hard-to-clean parts. Parts can also be swapped in again if the operator wants to retest the same material again.

“Manufacturers can quickly change powders in the RenAM 500S Flex and RenAM 500Q Flex in-house, giving them the flexibility they need to meet customer demand,” explains Lily Dixon, AM project manager at Renishaw. “Once the pre-production stage is complete, the common build environment allows any parameters to be directly transferred to a RenAM 500Q with powder recirculation, without the need to retest the gas flow, chamber and optics. Manufacturers can also build full-size parts on a small scale before mass production.”

“If the manufacturer no longer requires a flexible AM system, the Flex can even be converted into a recirculating machine—a feature that is unique to this system," says Dixon. "Converting the system provides manufacturers with the highest productivity AM option for serial production.”

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