Home 3D Printer Eplus3D develop non-contact powder cleaning design to recycle metal powder safely

Eplus3D develop non-contact powder cleaning design to recycle metal powder safely

Eplus3D developed a non-contract powder cleaning design to recycle used metal powder in a safe, closed environment. This design is now included within the build chamber of Eplus3D’s Additive Manufacturing machines.

As the Additive Manufacturing market grows, so does the need to pursue a safe and reliable experience for the machine users. One concern in this process is that of the inherent dangers associated with metal powders, including the risk of explosion or negative health effects associated with inhalation and skin exposure.

Explosion risk

During production and subsequent powder cleaning processing, the most important concern is to reduce the risk of explosion. Active metals such as aluminum, titanium are flammable and explosive, which requires us to take various measures to prevent such metal powder from entering the operating environment and eliminate the possibility of explosion. The non-contact powder cleaning design reduces the risk of active metals in an inert gas filled internal building chamber.

Health risk

Besides explosion risk, we also need to take into account that inhalation of metal powder is a potential health threat which cannot be ignored. When we clean the printed parts manually, there is the possibility of inhalation of metal powder, regardless of the precautions taken to prevent ingestion of powder. Metal particles have been shown to penetrate the skin. Dust masks can not provide 100% protection against metal dust being inhaled. The best way is to reduce the release of the powder at the source.

This design contains an intelligent electronic lock, which can operate automatically. Also, it has double locking from a mechanical lock, which can improve safety. Besides, the two-glove structure of the access door makes it possible to operate without opening the door, which can reduce the risks from the metal powders. This design has already been applied in Eplus3D metal 3D printers.


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