Concept Laser’s lab machine for small components

LaserCUSING, a phrase coined from the combination of the words Concept and Fusing is a process which involves the fusion of a metallic powder by a scanning laser. This latest addition to the Concept Laser family will allow these industries to seriously consider direct digital manufacture for custom components or short batch production. The Mlab cusing will provide the capability to build fully dense metallic parts in stainless steel, cobalt-chrome and precious metals. The Mlab cusing also benefits from a QA system that monitors the construction process in real time and encompasses all of the process components: melt pool, documentation, process gas, powder and temperature. The key element here is the real-time monitoring of the melt pool. In practice, this means monitoring the melt pool at very high sampling rates. As LaserCUSING is a micro-welding process in a confined space, a track width of approximately 100 µm with a layer height of about 20 to 50 µm, very high resolution is required. When applied to applications in the medical implant and dental technology sectors, LaserCUSING can produce components with micro or macro-cellular structures which mimic the structure of human bone and thus combine light weight with high mechanical load–bearing capacity. For applications within the jewellery sector the freedom which the process gives to designers allows complex filigree structures to be produced which would be difficult if not impossible using traditional methods.