Nikon expands AM center in Japan with automated depowdering from Solukon

At the end of February, Nikon commissioned the Nikon AM Technology Center Japan (NAMTC Japan) in Gyoda in Saitama Prefecture. The research, development and service center with an area of around 922 square meters is aimed at industrial customers from Japan and the Asian region who want to evaluate laser powder bed fusion processes on an industrial scale or manufacture high-load production and prototype components. The centerpiece of the system landscape is the NXG XII 600 metal 3D printer from Nikon SLM Solutions, complemented by measuring and post-processing systems for the entire AM process.

Automated depowdering plays a central role here. For this, Nikon relies on the Solukon system SFM-AT1000-S, which is designed for large components up to 800 kilograms and has been matched to the build volume of the NXG XII 600 with 600 × 600 × 600 millimeters. The variant installed in the center operates with a shortened swivel arm in order to improve the center of gravity of bulky components and reduce the mechanical load on the clamping devices.

The SFM-AT1000-S combines programmable rotational and vibrational movements with an additionally integrated high-frequency knocker. This is intended in particular to remove adhering powder in intricate internal channels without impairing surface quality. The motion sequences are derived from the CAD data of the component using the SPR-Pathfinder software, so that depowdering strategies can already be simulated in the design phase. For process monitoring, the system is equipped with sensors and interfaces that record process data and transfer it via OPC UA to a central dashboard of the production cell.

“Our aim is to offer our customers and interested parties the highest-quality equipment in the center. Solukon systems stand for top quality and reliability, so it is only logical that we chose a Solukon system for automated post-processing,” says Hiroyuki Nagasaka, Assistant General Manager Advanced Manufacturing Business Unit at Nikon.

The integration of Solukon technology is one building block for being able to depowder even demanding geometries reproducibly and to map additive manufacturing under conditions close to series production.