EOS To Show Laser-Sintering System At AAOS 2010

EOS will display orthopaedic applications and an Eosint M 270 Direct Metal Laser Sintering system at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) meeting, from 9-13 March in New Orleans. The company will also present new process and quality enhancements for its manufacturing equipment. EOS plastic and metal laser-sintering systems are used to create devices, implants, ortheses, prostheses, surgical equipment and instrument prototypes.

The systems allow medical designers to tailor-make parts that serve the individual needs of doctors and patients. In addition, laser-sintering enables engineers to create complex geometries such as porous surfaces that encourage osteointegration, and implants with mesh or scaffold structures that are lighter and more comfortable for patients. Materials available from EOS for orthopaedic applications include polyamides, a high-performance PEEK polymer, stainless steels, cobalt chromes and different titanium grades.

Recent developments that EOS will highlight at AAOS are new end-to-end quality assurance and manufacturing-process controls. DMLS now features an Integrated Process Chain Management module to ensure documentation of materials and processes. In addition, plastics laser-sintering systems now include as an option Part Property Profiles (PPP), which offer designers constant access to standardised property profiles and corresponding material values.

As a result, the PPP enables manufacturers to choose, from predetermined settings, the approach that is most cost-effective for their needs. Bestinclass, a micro-machining company, will also exhibit at EOS's booth and will display machined parts and offer technical background. Bestinclass provides post-processing, including fine surface finishing and polishing for laser-sintered metal parts. Several EOS customers that supply orthopaedic services will also exhibit at the AAOS meeting.

Euromold To Feature EOS Laser-Sintering Systems

EOS will display its EOSINT P 395 and EOSINT P 760 plastic laser-sintering systems at this year's Euromold exhibition, to be held 2-5 December 2009. The modular nature of both systems allows for a high degree of flexibility. Individual modules can be excluded at first, reducing the initial investment, but can be added at any future time. Both systems also offer the option for upgrading, with substantially improved process modules to support the strategy of part property management. A re-engineered laser-optics module (surface module) improves the quality of vertical surfaces into regions that until now have been exclusive to Formiga parts.

The Eosint P 760 can be optionally equipped with OLPC, which monitors and controls the laser's power during the building process, ensuring a more constant power than was previously possible. The Eosint P 760 is available with Flashrecoating, a new x-axis control that increases productivity by accelerating the re-coating speed up to 400mm/s. With the appropriate packing density, build-up rates of up to 700cm/h are realistically achievable. The recoating unit in the Eosint P395 has also been improved.

The introduction of PPPs has led to the integration into the Eosint P 395 of EOS's successful blade-cartridge concept, which was introduced in the Eosint P 730 in 2007, making it simple to carry out adjustments and change the layer thickness. A new version of the Eostate software, which monitors and reports on laser-sintering production, will also be presented at Euromold. Eostate 1.2, with a new array of report and analysis options, is EOS's answer to the increase in demand for transparency and continuous quality assurance in series-production processes. As such, the software complements the PPPs perfectly and is available for all plastic and metal systems.

The standardised reuse of powder materials is a prerequisite for continuously sustaining high quality in ongoing production. To fulfil this, EOS has adapted the successful concepts of other product lines to develop an integrated process chain management (IPCM) for Eosint M systems. The most important step here in quality assurance is the fast sieving of powder under defined conditions before its reuse. The IPCM ensures vibratory sieving under defined conditions and mesh sizes adapted and optimised for individual powders.

Powder preparation outside the machine, for example via powder homogenisation, enables the highest quality as well as maximum productivity and flexibility. Further increases in productivity and user-friendliness can be achieved with EOS's IPCM modules for fast powder conveying and machine refilling. The IPCM product range includes multipurpose lifting trolleys for transporting powder containers, as well as for building platforms and clamping systems.