ARCAM S12
The ARCAM S12 system utilises an high power electron beam (E-beam) to deposit complex metallic components using additive layer powder-bed technology where metallic powders are deposited in (typically) 100nm layers and selectively melted with the E-beam until the entire component has been deposited layer by layer, working directly from the components CAD file.
E-beam manufacturing is carried out hot and under vacuum, enabling the production of fully dense, highly complex geometries in reactive and traditionally difficult to manufacture materials. Such a near net technique can drastically decrease residual stress, machining time, material costs, manufacturing steps and lead time. In addition to this, geometries that can not be manufactured by any other manufacturing process can easily be achieve with this technique.
Materials that can be currently E-beam deposited:
-Titanium alloys
-Cobalt-Chrome alloys
-Titanium aluminides
-Nickel based super alloys
-Aluminium
-Tool steel
-Stainless steel
-Tool steel
-Hard metals (including Tungsten)
-Amorphous metals
-Copper
-Niobium
-Beryllium
ARCAM S12 - Research benefits
-Improvements in as deposited surface finish
-Mechanical property validation together with build position and parameter effects
-Microstructural evolution and modelling
-Grain refinement in titanium alloys
-Manufacture and quantification of complex net structures
-Deposition of new and novel materials
-Machine development