Renishaw Launching New Products at formnext to Make Additive Manufacturing More Mainstream

Like so many others in the 3D printing industry, Renishaw, headquartered in the UK, attended the TCT Show in Birmingham last month; Renishaw Iberica was also at IN(3D)USTRY last week. The leading metrology company has been working hard to grow its metal additive manufacturing activity and its end-to-end production process; to showcase the latter at TCT Show, Renishaw brought its RenAM 500M metal production machine, which has been well-received on the market, according to Additive Manufacturing Products Division Sales Manager Bob Bennett.

Bob Bennett, Sales Manager, Additive Manufacturing Products Division, Renishaw, at TCT Show [Image: Sarah Goehrke for 3DPrint.com]

“This is the most exciting period for Renishaw,” Bennett told 3DPrint.com at TCT. “We will be launching several new products at formnext. It’s not great to say ‘game-changing’ — but there will be a lot here to take, as we solidify our leadership position in metal additive manufacturing.”

Speaking of the new products Renishaw will be launching in Frankfurt next month, we’ve just learned that the company, in an effort to bring AM technology closer to mainstream production, plans to exhibit its current software and hardware alongside its latest developments.

At formnext, Renishaw will be introducing its new RenAM 500Q four-laser AM system, which is far faster than systems with a single laser. The RenAM 500Q, which speeds up the AM process by up to four times, can improve productivity in the most common size of machine platform.

“Multiple laser technology in a small footprint will broaden the appeal of additive manufacturing in new markets and applications. The technology is moving towards applications where it’s not just the technical benefits of AM that are attractive but also the production economics of using it in a serialised manufacturing process for high quality components,” said Robin Weston, Marketing Manager at Renishaw’s Additive Manufacturing Products Division.

“At the show, Renishaw will demonstrate to visitors AM’s capabilities as a high quality serialised manufacturing method with good process and quality control.”

The RenAM 500Q has the same precision and quality that standard single laser systems enjoy, while causing a major cost per part reduction. Renishaw believes that the increased speed and productivity of the RenAM 500Q will make metal AM more appealing to the market, for both currently uneconomic applications and industries that have not yet integrated the technology into production processes.

Formnext attendees who visit Renishaw at the show will also have the chance to see the company’s AM process monitoring technologies, which are developed and manufactured in-house. The new process monitoring system, which lets manufacturers develop consistent processing by gathering and analyzing sensor data from AM systems, has a galvo position, chamber camera with synchronous laser power sensing, and multi-spectral melt pool sensing.

Renishaw will also be exhibiting its InfiniAM suite, a process monitoring and production planning tool with analytical capabilities – the tool offers feedback on the system sensor data gathered during the build process. New additions to the suite that will be displayed at formnext include InfiniAM Spectral and InfiniAMCentral, both of which offer users “essential information to understand the component build process and monitoring melt pool characteristics in high resolution.”

The company will also be demonstrating its next-generation automation product ideas, and the latest features for its QuantAM build preparation software. Visitors can also check out Renishaw’s latest technology, High Temperature Build Volume, which allows manufacturers to build components out of seemingly impossible materials. Because bulkier parts can be produced with the technology that have a lower risk of thermal stress effects, High Temperature Build Volume could help grow AM technology capabilities, as well as offer an innovative R&D platform.

To check out everything Renishaw has to offer, visit the company at formnext November 14-17, at Stand E68 in Hall 3.1. 3DPrint.com will be present in Frankfurt to learn more on-site about the latest technology from Renishaw during the busy event.

Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com, or share your thoughts below.