SLM is also known as Laser Beam Melting or Laser Powder Bed Fusion, and the powder bed-based technique has been used to process metal in multiple sectors, such as automotive engineering, medical technology, and turbo machinery manufacturing. Researchers with Fraunhofer ILT, which is headquartered in Aachen, Germany and recently partnered with the Aachen University of Applied Sciences to open the largest SLM facility in the world, hope to further develop the SLM process to make it more suitable for 3D printing components made of copper alloys and pure copper. The research project is being funded by AiF German Federation of Industrial Research Associations.
Daniel Heussen, a research fellow in the Rapid Manufacturing group, explained, “Depending on surface properties, pure copper reflects up to 90 percent of laser radiation in conventionally used wavelengths of 1µm.”

Exposure of a single layer in a SLM process with green laser light to manufacture an internally cooled coil for inductive heat treatment. [Image: Fraunhofer ILT]
By using green laser light with a 515 nm wavelength, copper’s absorptivity grows, so less laser power output is necessary to keep the process stable. Additionally, a green laser beam can be more precisely focused, so it’s able to manufacture more delicate components. At formnext 2017 in Frankfurt, Fraunhofer ILT will be introducing its research topic, using a model and initial process videos, for a specially developed laser beam source that operates with green light, instead of infrared, to enable the economic production of pure copper components.
“We are hoping for a more homogeneous melt pool dynamics so that we can build components with high material density and achieve other positive effects, such as a higher detail resolution,” Heussen said of the new SLM approach.
Fraunhofer ILT’s department for laser beam source development is building its own green laser source, in a project dubbed “SLM in green,” because one does not currently exist on the market that meets the boundary conditions of its new process. The immediate goal is to create a high-quality laser, which works with a maximum output of 400 watts in continuous service (cw) with green wavelength (515 nm), for single-mode operation, but the aim for the future is to develop a reliable process for industrial users, in which they can 3D print complex geometries with undercuts and hollow structures using pure copper.
This process could be used to produce small batches of delicate, complex electrical components, efficient heat sinks, and even jewelry.“Inductors for inductive heat treatment in industrial production are excellent showcases for additive manufacturing,” Heussen explained. “They are mostly produced in small numbers with a high level of complexity and a wide range of different variants.”
When it comes to using the new process to make jewelry, the Fraunhofer ILT researchers are hoping to get a much higher detail resolution, and greater cost efficiency in production, than other 3D printing methods, like electron beam melting. The potential even exists for the green laser to work with other non-ferrous and precious metals in the jewelry industry.
Heussen said, “However, before we achieve that, we still need to overcome a few hurdles in process and system development and gain a deeper process understanding for the use of the new wavelength. This is currently the goal of the publicly funded project, which will run until mid-2019.”
An ‘SLM in green’ laboratory setup should be ready by the end of this year. To learn more about Fraunhofer ILT’s new SLM process, visit them in hall 3.0, stand F50, at formnext this fall. Discuss in the Fraunhofer forum at 3DPB.com.
Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter
Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.
You May Also Like
TPM Launches New 3D Printing Lab in the Heart of the Southeast’s Advanced Manufacturing Hub
On June 1, TPM, a digitization solutions company based in Greenville, South Carolina, opened its new Additive Manufacturing (AM) Lab, also in Greenville. TPM sells hardware, software, and materials for...
3D Printing Webinar & Event Roundup: June 4, 2023
In this week’s roundup, Stratasys has a few stops on its road trip, and TCT 3Sixty is taking place in Birmingham. There are also webinars about automotive 3D printing, electron...
3D Systems Confirms Bid to Buy Stratasys to Create $1.84B 3D Printing Company
See the update at end of this article. In what has to be one of the 3D printing industry’s biggest news weeks, additive manufacturing (AM) pioneer 3D Systems (NYSE: DDD)...
3D Printing News Unpeeled: Stratasys, Nano Dimension and 3D Systems
Today we’re talking about all the merger options on offer between Desktop Metal, Stratasys, Nano Dimension and 3D Systems. It seems like most people in this industry are publicly saying...
Print Services
Upload your 3D Models and get them printed quickly and efficiently.