With the AO series, the Californian company Additive Plus is launching its own line of metal 3D printers, which are designed to make access to laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) technology significantly more affordable. The A30 and A50 models are aimed in particular at research institutes, universities and smaller companies with limited budgets.
While LPBF systems generally cost six-figure sums, the entry-level price of the AO series starts at 59,000 US dollars. The aim is to make additive metal manufacturing accessible for materials research, alloy development and prototyping. The devices were developed entirely by Additive Plus. The systems have an open architecture that gives users full control over process parameters such as laser power, scanning strategy and temperature control.
The compact A30 model has a 200 watt fiber laser (optional 300 watt) and an installation space of 30 mm diameter and 60 mm height. The larger A50 version has an installation space of 50 x 100 mm and starts with a 300 watt laser. However, this can be upgraded to up to 1000 watts and an additional 250 watt blue laser source. The latter improves the processing of fine structures and materials such as copper or high-entropy alloys in particular.
A special feature of the A50 is the 900-degree temperature control system, which allows the use of high-temperature alloys. Both machines are suitable for research applications as well as for small series production.
The AO printers were presented at the RAPID + TCT trade fair, where Additive Plus demonstrated the entire workflow – from powder to finished component. Among other things, the ATO Lab+ for powder production and a particle analyzer from Microtrac were used.
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