Glatt Powder Synthesis as part of the joint project “HyAdd3D”

Hybrid process for additive multi-material processing of individualized products with high resolution

Additive manufacturing has extraordinary flexibility and is being developed across a range of applications.   Nevertheless, various hurdles prevent broader usage and adoption in industrial manufacturing. Established technologies such as selective laser sintering (SLS) or fused deposition modelling (FDM) usually do not meet the full range of requirements for the final application. In most of the processes used to date, only a single material can be printed. This limits the capabilities of the final product. Hybrid material systems that have multiple printing materials and variable properties can currently only be implemented industrially in a few processes.

In the “HyAdd3D” project, a process was developed in which 20 μm thin layers are applied on top of each other in a step-by-step repetitive process. Depending on the desired component properties, specifically adapted raw materials are chosen for each layer. The different layers of physically modified materials are applied using different print heads.

Once each layer is printed, the light-sensitive materials it is composed of are cured through the use of a laser and a DLP^® Light Engine module.