Renishaw to show additive manufacturing at Engineering Design Show

The system utilises a pioneering, additive manufacturing process capable of producing complex metal parts direct from 3D CAD, using a high-powered fibre laser. Parts are built from a range of fine metal powders that are fully melted in a tightly controlled atmosphere, in layer thicknesses ranging from 20 to 100 microns. Laser melting has already developed a presence in the medical (orthopaedics) industry as well as the aerospace and high technology engineering and electronics sectors. This will be one of a number of company innovations on show at the design-focused event. Others will include the company's position encoders, including new variants of Resolute, the world's first true absolute encoder, which is capable of 27 bit resolution at 36,000 rpm and resolution of just 1 nanometer at up to 100 m/s, for both linear and angle encoding applications. New models include Resolute ETR, a variant of this market-leading absolute optical encoder with extended temperature range that allows it to operate in very cold environments such as aerospace and observatories. Three new protocols have also been added recently, including one for the Mitsubishi Melservo-J4 range of servo amplifiers, which are regularly used in industries such as electronic assembly, and Fanuc serial communications for linear encoding in the machine tool industry. Renishaw's range of TONiC™ compact, incremental optical encoders provide the accuracy of fragile fine-pitch encoders, but in a rugged, simple-to-install package. Recent additions to the TONiC range of linear and rotary encoders include 1 nm and 2 nm resolutions, a dual output encoder interface, and compatibility with Renishaw's Dual Signal Interface (DSi) for high accuracy angle encoding.