Renishaw Opens Additive Manufacturing Demo Center

Renishaw Inc. (West Dundee, IL) has opened a new Additive Manufacturing Demonstration Center in Newbury Park, CA. Working in local collaboration with Ibex Engineering, this facility is situated within Ibex headquarters and allows visitors to explore, interact with and use their latest metal AM systems. The center is equipped to print high precision titanium (Ti64Al4V) parts on the RenAM 500 series of laser powder-bed fusion AM systems. Ideal for industrial production applications, it allows for powder sieving and recirculation to be carried out automatically within the compact system, reducing the need for manual handling and exposure to materials.

To provide a complete picture of the metal AM process, the center features ancillary elements, such as wet downdraft, heat treatment, support, machining and inspection technology, and part removal equipment. These components work in concert with the AM system to ensure parts are printed and finished to specifications. Also available at the site are InfiniAM Central software, showcasing AM production reporting functionality and QuantAM build preparation software, which allows visitors to work through the development of an AM machine build file, including material parameter development.

“It’s fantastic to be able to place a metal AM production cell within Ibex,” said Stephen Anderson, the AM business development manager for Renishaw. “Not only does it allow us to showcase our latest technologies, but partnering with them provides us access to an expert manufacturer of precision staging equipment who will utilize the technology to develop innovative products, and drive metal AM into new markets and even wider adoption.”

“We have been a user of Renishaw high precision encoder systems in our products for many years and have a close working relationship,” added Andre Perrin, the chief executive officer of Ibex. “They understand manufacturers and manufacturing, the importance of quality, reliability, and most importantly, service. We are very excited about their approach to metal AM and their vision to develop high precision, repeatable machines capable of serial production of parts. We look forward to developing new AM parts for our business and to sharing our knowledge with their company’ visitors.”

www.renishaw.com