Additive manufacturing processes are playing a growing role in automotive engineering, aerospace and other industries: more and more companies are turning to industrial 3D printing when complex-shaped components or one-offs need to be produced.
POWDERscreen is designed for laser cladding, in which special nozzles deliver concentrated streams of metal powder precisely into the focus of a laser beam. This melts the powder on the surface of the workpiece to create complex 3D structures. (Photo: Christoph Wilsnack/Fraunhofer IWS)
However, the run-in curves can still be quite long, especially for small series, and the reject rates can be high at the beginning. The Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology IWS Dresden is therefore developing modern measurement and control technology with which additive processes can be used much more effectively than before, for example for highly automated production lines.
This includes the POWDERscreen - a unique powder measuring device for laser deposition welding. It can be used to reduce costs, improve component quality and increase the reproducibility of the process. The Fraunhofer IWS demonstrated this innovative system in May 2022 during the "3rd Symposium on Materials and Additive Manufacturing" at the Deutsches Hygiene-Museum Dresden.
