ZEISS and EOS partner over powder bed monitoring system for 3D printing

ZEISS In-process Monitoring identifies and classifies defects in the powder bed

The joint goal is to develop and market a powder bed monitoring system for 3D printing. A trained neuronal network will automate analysis procedures and reduce costs.

(PRESS RELEASE) OBERKOCHEN, 8-Nov-2021 — /EuropaWire/ — ZEISS, a German optical systems and optoelectronics manufacturer, has announced a new partnership with EOS, a leading supplier for responsible manufacturing solutions via industrial 3D printing technology, aimed at jointly integrating and marketing the ZEISS AM in-process monitoring for in-situ surveillance of the powder bed for industrial 3D printing with metals. The two companies will reveal more details of the future collaboration at the Formnext exhibition from 16th to 19th November, 2021.

A uniformly distributed powder bed is essential for a stable and reliable AM-Process. To detect grooves and elevations in the powder bed with a high degree of certainty, a patented technology of ZEISS to capture height information of the powder bed is used as the core of the product. The goal is to analyze the acquired 3D information by a trained neural network. As a result, customers receive automatically marked and classified irregularities in the powder bed.

The cooperation aims at integrating the ZEISS AM in-process monitoring into the DMLS® systems of EOS to give customers the possibility to have the powder bed supervised to assess its quality during the printing process as well as afterwards and to intervene manually or automatically according to predefined rules.

“We are confident that ZEISS can contribute with this product to help further industrialize additive manufacturing and that with EOS we found a strong partner for a successful market entry” explains Heiko Degen, Business Development Manager Additive Manufacturing Process & Control at ZEISS.

“The automated analysis of the powder bed quality and quick reaction to identify defects opens immense potential for cost savings. We are, therefore, developing an interface for our EOS M 290 that enables the communication of a ZEISS solution on our 3D printing system. As an example, information from the ZEISS product can be used to correct detected powder bed defects by triggering a second recoat step,” adds Dominik Hawelka, Product Line Manager at EOS.

We kindly invite you to visit ZEISS (hall 12.1, booth B81) and EOS (hall 21.1, booth D01) at the Formnext to learn more.

Media contact:

Bernd Balle
ZEISS Industrial Quality Solutions
Phone: +49 7364 20-8148
bernd.balle@zeiss.com

SOURCE: ZEISS