Fonon at Cutting Edge of Additive Manufacturing in Mining
25 May 2024 - 7:08AM
Business Wire
Mining Industry To See a Decisive Advantage
With 3D Laser Metal Printing
Fonon Corporation, a multi-market holding company, R&D
center, equipment designer and manufacturer of advanced laser
material processing systems for subtractive and additive
manufacturing, highlights applications for its Bulk-To-Shape (BTS)
application-specific additive manufacturing/metal 3D printing
technology for the mining industry. This technology is currently
being developed by this world-class company and has not been fully
commercialized.
Mining equipment and structural elements must endure intense
shock and vibration. Often situated in remote, less accessible
locations where transporting spare parts is costly and
time-consuming, mines employ equipment that is built to last – but
some failures are bound to happen. Maintaining these machines can
be a challenge. Fonon's BTS additive manufacturing, or 3D printing,
will provide mining professionals with a solution by delivering
them a method to produce parts and tools locally.
Rather than collecting extensive inventories or risking downtime
when replacement components are not available, operators can use
obsolete parts or raw materials for reproduction. When fully
actualized, Fonon's BTS system will be capable of re-creating a
3-dimensional model through a combination of conventional laser
additive manufacturing with original metal powder production.
As a result, critical parts can be obtained faster, less
inventory is required onsite and a more sustainable supply chain
carbon footprint can be achieved. Physical inventories can be
replaced by digital inventories and new components and parts can be
produced on-demand. Fonon's BTS-powered systems will give users the
power to fabricate complex geometries and optimize the designs of
existing parts for better performance and reliability, as well as
providing the benefit of reduced material waste.
Indeed, BTS technology aims to offer a way to improve practices
in the industry and advance toward sustainability goals. Whereas
traditional subtractive manufacturing methods generate waste, Fonon
reconstructs the product and its subassemblies in one structure,
achieving minimal waste and saving costs on materials. In addition,
transportation resources are reduced as metal 3D printing would
occur closer to worksites.
Fonon's 3D laser metal printing systems will utilize a layered,
digitally-driven additive manufacturing process that directs
high-quality, focused laser energy to fuse metal powder into 3D
objects. Production-quality parts and metal prototypes will be
capable of being BTS-manufactured directly from a digital
model.
Fonon's advanced manufacturing systems will utilize Direct Drive
Motion and proprietary LaserComb Beam Shaping technologies to
position a powerful laser for enhanced production speed and
consistency. The system will even ensure a balanced distribution of
light across the powder bed, achieving a significant decrease in
reflectivity and improved beam quality. This technology will not
rely on galvo scan heads, ensuring a consistent laser focus
throughout the entire build process and across all layers, which
results in uniform products. The technology will also support rapid
processing over a wider area with a uniform, high-precision laser
beam.
BTS represents Fonon's continuously growing umbrella of
building-block technologies supported by patents, licenses,
next-generation hardware and proprietary metal processing
intellectual property dedicated to designing specialized 3D metal
printing systems for industrial and manufacturing purposes that
represent the fastest path to production readiness.
For more information about Fonon Corporation's transformational
Bulk-To-Shape technology, please visit https://fonon.com.
About Fonon Corporation
Fonon Corporation is a diversified industrial laser equipment
company with a continuously growing umbrella of building-block
technologies supported by patents, licenses, next-generation
hardware, and proprietary metal processing IP. The company is
dedicated to advancing industrial technology and designing
specialized 3D metal printing systems for manufacturing purposes,
representing the fastest path to Manufacturing Readiness Level
10.
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Fonon Corporation Media Relations 1 (844) 366-6624
Marketing@fonon.com