Meltio 3D printing goes three dimensional

The ability to design and manufacture parts from metals or polymers into nearly any shape imaginable has been the dream of production companies for years, with one tech company taking it a step further – a robot arm that adds a precision to additive manufacturing the likes that have only been seen in science fiction.

Simply named, Meltio is a joint venture that came together in 2019 between Additec, a Las Vegas-based technology company that specializes in 3D printing, and Sicnova, a leading 3D printing equipment distributor.

With additional support from one of the world's largest steel producers, ArcelorMittal, Meltio has been able to provide an unmitigated line of metal 3D printers.

Its focus started on laser metal deposition – a directed energy deposition process that functions by precisely stacking weld beads on top of one another, generally in powder or wire form, as it is introduced into a laser generated melt pool – with the company's straightforward Meltio M450.

Designed for ease and simplicity, the M450 is ideal for small to medium sized part fabrication as well as multi-metal 3D printing research – a relatively new technology for 3D printing alloys or individual metals.

As the world of 3D printers has continued to develop as well as grow in popularity, becoming mainstream enough to reach the homes of hobbyists and small enterprises alike, Meltio expanded its capabilities by introducing computer numerical control integration to be added to any machine tool, turning it into a hybrid manufacturing system.

Hybrid manufacturing systems such as DMG Mori's Lasertec 65 DED hybrid are starting to pop up here and there with the ability to add metal via laser deposition 3D printing, and to subtract it via more traditional milling processes, giving a somewhat single step that can create the kind of rough shape one would expect from additive manufacture, then hone it back to perfection with CNC milling tools.

With Meltio's additive manufacturing head attachment, it can be fit onto almost any existing CNC milling machine, gantry system, or industrial robot arm. It is a metal printing head with its own deployment system, that extends when it is time to lay some metal down and retracts when it is time to get a cutting tool in the spindle and start machining.

This potential retrofit can provide new capability to almost any CNC machine, enabling metal 3D printing and machining of complex geometries in a one-step process.

The engine prints a range of metals, including stainless steel, the superalloy Inconel, and titanium, using up to six lasers to melt and deposit wire or powder feed – or indeed both simultaneously, without needing to change the head. Processes for copper, aluminum, molybdenum, tungsten, gold, as well as specialty alloys such as Invar and X9 are currently under development.

The integration of a robotic arm has, so far, pushed Meltio ahead of its competitors.

With many precision fabrication and manufacturing facilities already using the exactitudes of robotic arms, it was a small intuitive leap to use the technology with 3D printers.

A robotic arm with a nozzle for extruding wire and then heated with a laser into any shape brings 3D to 3D printers, removing the 2D plane with which most printing is done and allowing the robotic arm to print from any angle.

The CNC arm gives it full five-axis positioning capability and precision, and Meltio provides a control computer with a flip-up touchscreen for setup and monitoring work. Where all-in-one systems like the Lasertec are confined within boxes that restrict the size of the parts one can work on, the Meltio head can work on anything the robot arm can reach.

The company says it is likely to be an attractive upgrade to existing automotive and aerospace manufacturing equipment, among other industries.

Where some 3D print systems are designed mainly for prototyping and one-off custom part creation, Meltio's product is conceived as a fully-fledged production system ready to deploy its remarkable capabilities at serious volume. And when it is not being used to create parts from scratch, it can be used to modify existing parts, or even to repair metal parts that have been cracked or damaged.

Meltio calls it "the first affordable hybrid manufacturing solution catering to almost any tooling machine in the market" – and backs that up by talking prices in an industry that generally plays its cards very close to the chest.

The Meltio Engine starts at roughly US$100,000, so it is certainly not a hobby-grade piece of equipment, but such a price for mid-sized or even ambitious small-sized enterprises, it purportedly can do what some multi-million-dollar hybrid systems can, without any size constraints.