The mid-sized M-FLEX system is primarily designed for manufacturing metal parts for use in industries such as mining, automotive and energy. Eventually, additional material sets will be printed with M-FLEX, including tungsten, glass, ceramics and a variety of materials used for the casting industry.
The M-FLEX's productivity improvements and increased flexibility are housed in a build chamber of 15.7 x 10.0 x 10.0 inches that can achieve build speeds of 30 seconds per layer – one-third that of previous build speeds of approximately one-and-a-half minutes per layer.
"We've made tremendous strides in 3D printing in the last decade, and what our machines can do today is simply remarkable. We are printing engine castings for helicopters and replacing broken pumps in oil fields in days – not months," said Dave Burns, President of ExOne. Burns also commented that advances such as this have made additive manufacturing the most compelling advanced technology used in industry today.
The complete machine system includes a printer, recycling equipment, printing materials, furnace and a comprehensive multimedia training program.