IRPD, a member of the United Grinding Group based in St Gallen, Switzerland, has debuted its IMPACT 4530 Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing machine.
The IMPACT 4530 features a 450 x 300 mm build chamber, enabling the production of components up to 400 mm high. The machine functions with either two or four 1,000 W lasers. The IMPACT 4530, states the company, is the first metal AM machine developed under the ‘Made in Switzerland’ banner.
“The fact that this success has been achieved in little St Gallen of all places may surprise some, but it is no coincidence,” said Stefan Lang, CEO of IRPD. The release of the IMPACT 4530 is built on thirty years of experience in Additive Manufacturing; close links with universities such as ETH Zurich; and the United Grinding Group’s over 100 years of experience in the manufacture of grinding, eroding, laser, and measuring machines with the long-established brands Mägerle Blohm, Jung, Studer, Schaudt, Mikrosa, Walter and Ewag.
“Industrial production places particularly high demands on an additive machine tool for metal components, and the IMPACT 4530 meets these demands,” explained Dr Kai Gutknecht, Head of Process and Software Engineering at IRPD. “The decisive factor is that we can control the entire Additive Manufacturing process in the IMPACT 4530 in a reproducible and documentable manner and achieve a reliably high production quality as a result.”
IRPD stated that short changeover times when switching between materials, very low maintenance requirements, and long service life meet the requirements of industrial customers looking for an Additive Manufacturing machine.
This is made possible by the system design, which features a thermo-stabilised machine core and vacuum-capable process chamber. The latter is a robust cast component with very high rigidity and hermetic sealing. Modern sensors and cameras record the process in real-time.
The 137 cm display on the machine gives the user a virtual view of the work process inside the chamber with all relevant data. The IMPACT 4530 is also equipped with CORE, the hardware and software architecture for machine tools from the United Grinding Group. The 61 cm control panel allows the operator to operate the machine without programming knowledge.
“The machine has already proven itself in the contract manufacturing of high-quality individual parts and for component production within the United Grinding and I am very pleased that we are now starting the sales phase with selected industrial customers,” concluded Stefan Lang.
