HP has announced the commercial availability of its Metal Jet S100 for mass production of 3D printed metal parts.
The system provides industrial production capabilities, integrated workflow, subscription and service offerings in a modular configuration that enables build units to travel between four different stations, meaning users can continually run production at scale for mass metals production.
HP lists the following benefits of its Metal Jet technology:
• New designs: New geometries, density control and designs to lightweight or consolidate metal parts push the boundaries of what is possible with 3D printing.
• Customer economics: Process steps needed to create parts are shortened while costs due to manual labour or complexity requirements are reduced, driving efficiencies across the supply chain.
• Productivity: Binder jetting can boost productivity tenfold, allowing for processing layer by layer versus point process. Isotropic properties also require no post-processing and no support removal, and the use of metal powders is also more cost-effective than laser-based 3D printing powder.
• Higher resolution: HP printheads leverage industrial thermal inkjet technology developments, defining geometry and delivering high resolution and system robustness, making mass 3D metal parts a viable option for commercial manufacturing.
In addition to the commercial availability of the Metal Jet S100 for mass production of high-end 3D metal printed parts, HP also used the event to announce collaboration with customers in the medical, industrial, consumer goods, and automotive industries – including GKN, Parmatech, Cobra Golf, Legor Group, and Volkswagen – to scale 3D metals.
HP also announced that Schneider Electric has become the latest to design and manufacture new Metal Jet-printed parts. Schneider Electric’s product portfolio includes products, controls, software and services across residential, commercial, industrial and critical applications.
Together with GKN, a new filter used on Schneider Electric’s NSX breaker was produced using HP Metal Jet technology, something that could not be achieved with conventional industrial manufacturing capabilities due to the shape and material complexity. HP Metal Jet technology facilitated the design of new power filters shapes that reduce gas, pressure, and heat impact in a more limited space, and also yielded significant productivity gains and environmental benefits, HP says.
HP and Schneider Electric will deliver a keynote address at the Additive Manufacturing Conference at IMTS on Thursday September 15 at 8:15 am US Central Time. Show attendees can see the new HP Metal Jet S100 Solution and a wide variety of production applications at the HP booth at IMTS #433000.
