Colibrium Additive Upgrades EB-PBF Software for Enhanced Printer Performance, Productivity

Colibrium Additive, a GE Aerospace company, has upgraded its core electron beam melting (EB-PBF) software with the EBMControl 6.4, which features three substantial innovations, including point melt, powder supports and plate-free technology. The software is compatible with Colibrium Additive’s Spectra L printers and Spectra M printers.

“We continuously evolve our EB-PBF printers to take them to the next level,” says Oscar Angervall, senior product manager, Colibrium Additive. “With the additive industry’s largest team of electron beam additive experts, we are dedicated to helping our customers unlock the full potential of EB-PBF technology.” 

What Is Point Melt?

Point Melt technology melts metal powder through small “points” instead of lines which limits the heat input into the parts, thereby enabling a more accurate temperature as well as reducing temperature gradients through the printing of a part. Users can get better mechanical properties and improved surface finish.

The company says this Point Melt enables freedom of orientation, which means that printers can offer excellent isotropic material properties independent of build direction, including a significant increase in yield strength. Parts made with Point Melt demonstrate excellent surface roughness, on par with laser powder bed fusion (LPBF). 

“Controlled with adaptive software algorithms, Point Melt marks a step change in melt strategy,” Angervall adds. “Metal parts can benefit from a reduction of support needed to build overhangs and an improved surface quality.”

Powder Supports Solution

Powder Supports are a new solution for supporting parts during the build. The enlarged process window enabled by Point Melt functionalities significantly reduces or eliminates the number of support structures needed, while Powder Supports retain the excellent dimensional accuracy of line melt with supports. For customers, the new tool aims to reduces postprocessing costs. 

“For the aerospace and medical industries, we can now print smaller parts, such as a femoral knee implant, fully without traditional supports, which reduces postprocessing cost and time,” Angervall says. “For some components, this application will drastically improve the business case for customers.”

Enabling Plate-Free Printing

The software upgrade enables the use of plate-free printing. Users can realize cost savings by eliminating the need for build plates, which is also better for sustainability. Plate Free is also an alternative to conventional ‘Start Plate Heating’ and offers a more cost-effective, hands-off way to start a build. During the Plate-Free start, powder is gradually sintered to a point where parts can be built on top, bringing a range of advantages around quality and cost. 

Plate-Free Printing Advantages:

• Decreased machine turnaround times and fewer operator dependencies
• Reduced risk of contamination, longer cathode lifetime
• The possibility to start several builds per machine turnaround
• Eliminating one heavy, spacious and expensive consumable
• In addition, Plate Free versus Start Plate Heating is set with themes, which means it requires no effort to swap between builds