AM Solutions (a brand of the Rösler Group) is gearing up for the next edition of Formnext to be held 15-19 November in Frankfurt. On booth C81 in Hall 12.0, AM Solutions – 3D post processing technology will be showing its impressive range of AM specific post-processing solutions, all designed and manufactured by a company with an 80-year pedigree in producing finishing technologies for traditional manufacturing, and all designed with the particular characteristics of AM parts in mind.
From the full AM Solutions’ range, visitors at Formnext will be able to see technologies providing a range of post-processing operations for plastic, metal, and resin AM parts. Including will be the company’s M1 Basic (compact entry-level system ideal for the surface smoothing and polishing of metal or plastic AM parts); the S1 (2-in-1 solution for cleaning and surface finishing of polymer parts produced in AM powder-bed systems); the S1 Wet (a versatile wet blast solution designed for cleaning and surface finishing of metal AM parts); the S2 (promoting the uniform cleaning, surface homogenisation and / or peening in continuous mode operation of plastic parts produced in AM powder-bed systems); and the C1 (providing fully automatic support and resin removal from photopolymer parts). In addition, we will give an update around the development status of our C2, a 2-in-1 system for chemical surface smoothing of and dye application to plastic AM parts.
Daniel Hund, Head of Marketing at Rösler / AM Solutions says, “In our portfolio, we have perhaps the most impressive range of AM post-processing equipment to be found anywhere, and we are able to provide various post-processing technologies for the full range of AM produced materials. Some of our technologies are specific to resin, plastic, or metal AM parts, but some have the ability to post-process both metal and plastic parts, providing not just amazingly accurate and repeatable post-processing, but also cost-effective post-processing. By taking a substantially sized stand at the market-leading Formnext event, we once again demonstrate our dedication to the AM sector, and our continued commitment to address the unique post-processing issues related to the technology, thereby playing our part in the continued growth in uptake of AM across all industry sectors. AM is not only an agile and innovative manufacturing process, with the ability to produce parts impossible using traditional manufacturing processes, but it also has the ability to democratise and localise manufacturing, to promote digital inventory, and to have a substantial and positive environmental benefit. Because of this, AM Solutions fully supports its industry-wide uptake.”
It is with the continued growth in AM as a production technology (not simply a prototyping technology) that there is greater scrutiny on the validation of surface finish, conformance with design intent, and the attainment of exacting tolerances repeatably. AM parts and components can exhibit extraordinary geometric and internal channel complexity, which while great for the promotion of innovative products and components, can add problems when it comes to post-processing. The technology also uniquely requires support removal when using certain build technologies and materials, or powder removal, all of which add to the burden of post-processing.
Hund continues, “Post processing is a hot topic in the area of AM today, which is unsurprising as in many applications, the post-processing step(s) can account for anything from 20-50% of the total unit cost for an AM part. AM Solutions – 3D post processing technology is leading the drive to reduce the time and cost of the post-processing step in product development, while simultaneously keeping a total focus on the need for precision and repeatability in production. AM Solutions’ range of automated post-processing technologies have all been developed in order to overcome the sometimes slow, costly, and disconnected AM process chain, and to ensure that AM is an efficient and viable production alternative to legacy manufacturing technologies. The company promotes innovative, customer-focused process development for AM operations, and collaborates with customers to ensure the optimal post-processing solution for each application. The whole AM Solutions’ team has a determination to focus its expertise on streamlining the AM ecosystem, and we work hard to ensure that bottlenecks such as post-processing are eliminated through the judicious use of sophisticated automated solutions. We as always look forward to meeting the AM community at Formnext, and to discuss the ways in which our technologies and expertise can be used to benefit specific customer applications.”
A team of AM Solutions experts will be on hand to meet with Formnext attendees on booth C81 in Hall 12. The company also invites attendees requiring pre-arranged 1-2-1 meetings to email [email protected]m, so specific meeting times and dates can be confirmed.
