Sciaky Inc. is a well-known American manufacturer since 1939 has been known for its industrial welding systems. Moreover, in order to truly harness their expertise and evolve, the company also branched out into the creation of metal 3D printing systems back in 2009. These solutions use a patented technology named Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing, which itself falls under the Directed Energy Deposition umbrella. The solutions are considered to be high-performance metal 3D printers and have been designed to save time and money on model production according to Sciaky. Not to mention, they have the ability to print almost any metal, including titanium and tantalum. Apart from the EBAM 150, the company also offers the EBAM 110, EBAM 200 and the EBAM 300, the largest offering from the company.
One thing that is remarkable about all Sciaky’s solutions is of course the patented technology. Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing uses an electron beam gun to deposit metal layer-by-layer via a wire feedstock. As with many other DED solutions, this technology has a number of advantages including for large-scale additive manufacturing as well as the ability to combine two different metal alloys into a single melt pool thanks to the dual wirefeed system. This allows for the creation of custom alloy parts.
Features of the EBAM 150 System
In the words of Sciaky, the EBAM 150 System is one of the most versatile advanced manufacturing systems on the market. This is due notably to its size, though not the largest offering from the company, which allows for parts made in a build envelope of 110″ (2794 mm) wide x 47″ (1194 mm) deep x 60″ (1524 mm) high. Additionally, it can create parts made out of high-value metals with Sciaky pointing to Titanium, Inconel 718 and 625, Tantalum, Tungsten, Niobium, 2319/4043 Aluminum, 70/39 Copper Nickel and 4130/4135 Steel as the best candidates for EBAM applications. This also makes it uniquely suited to making parts for use in sectors like oil & gas exploration, power generation and aerospace.
Not to mention, the EBAM 150 also shares benefits of the other EBAM systems. Of these, one of the most interesting is Sciaky’s patented closed loop control, called IRISS® (Interlayer Real-time Imaging & Sensing System), which allows users to have consistent part geometry, mechanical properties, microstructure, metal chemistry, etc. when creating parts as a key feature of their machines. The system works by monitoring the metal deposition process in real time and making adjustments to the process parameters in order to compensate for changes that occur over time and reducing the likelihood of print failures. An important consideration when making parts with expensive materials or that must be used for safety critical parts.
