After a decade of groundbreaking research & development by Matsuura Japan, additive manufacturing has a new unique one-process solution, LUMEX Avance-25, which combines metal laser sintering and high-speed milling.
According to the company, LUMEX Avance-25 machines are currently available for viewing at Matsuura Europe Group facility in Germany. Tentatively, Matsuura plans to bring this hybrid machine to the U.S. in 2013.
This new technology combines a metal laser sintering process to grow a component from powder with high-speed machining to deliver tight dimensional tolerance and smooth surfaces. Machining, which is performed at each layer, may be done on the entire part or limited to specific areas.
Among the many advantages cited by the company are machined internal features and narrow channels. The hybrid approach creates finished internal cavities that could not be accessed when conventionally milling, and it eliminates the time-consuming EDM process that is often needed for conventionally made molds.
LUMEX Avance-25 has a 400W Yb fibre laser, Matsuura 45,000rpm spindle & Touch Screen NC operation and functionality.