Founded in 2019 as a joint venture between Additec and Sicnova, metal 3D printer OEM Meltio develops and produces high-performance and user-friendly metal 3D printing solutions that utilize its patented Wire-Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) technology type of DED. The company is based in Linares, Spain, and that’s where I was last week to attend the launch of its new industrial 3D printer: the Meltio M600.
Let’s get the basics out of the way: This new system combines wire tray, smart sensors, a larger, completely inert work area of 300 x 400 x 600 mm and blue lasers to print even more demanding metals including Inconel, nickel, stainless steels, titanium as well Copper and aluminum alloys.
The M600 was designed to be the perfect complement to modern machine shops. It features a 3-axis touch button and supports multiple workholding solutions (e.g. zero point clamping) for printing and repairing parts as well as adding functions to existing components. In addition, the printer has been designed to be very autonomous and easy to use. For this reason, the event’s slogan was “Plug, Press Play, & Print.”
In his welcoming speech to the assembled journalists and resellers from around the world, Ángel Llavero, CEO of Meltio, said that the M600 is the “second generation” of the M450 turnkey 3D printer that was launched in 2019.
“The first one wasn’t a perfect solution, so we listened to your problems and made a very, very good product,” he said of the new printer.
Ángel Llavero, CEO of Meltio, addresses the room
The official launch event for the next-generation Meltio M600 was also livestreamed at AMUG 2024 in Chicago.
“We will not be another company focused on powder bed fusion processes. We will only focus on laser wire deposition,” Lukas Hoppe, head of research and development at Meltio, told the gathered crowd about the company’s history and mission.
Hoppe explained that wire laser AM is cost-effective, accessible, integrable, safe and reliable. Meltio wanted to prove with its original M450 that “laser wire deposition could be a simple process” and that plug-and-play metal AM was possible. Although it was not initially easy to develop and refine the company’s turnkey machine for near-net-shape printing, the company succeeded.
“It took over three years of problem solving to achieve a robust printing process for our current technology and another two years to get to where we are today,” he continued. “In these five years, nothing has changed in the basic concept and structure of our machine. It’s the same lasers, the same dials.”
Lukas Hoppe, head of R&D at Meltio
Meltio and its users learned a lot from this first machine, including the fact that reliability is, above all, the most important aspect; Understanding process dynamics is key; And the printer itself is only part of the solution. The entire ecosystem is necessary for success.
“It’s about the software, finding local support for your machine, material parameters and all these things that have to fit together. And if you don’t have all of that, you won’t be able to sell a solution that the market really needs,” said Hoppe.
Afterwards, Alejandro Jiménez, Project Manager for Meltio Engine, took the stage to introduce the Meltio ecosystem, which consists of:
- Meltio M450
- Meltio Engine CNC integration
- Meltio Engine robot integration
- Robot cell with Meltio motor
- Meltio M600
“We only had nine people and a proven concept in 2019, and now with a group of more than 100 people we have developed more than 16 solutions,” Jiménez told the crowd.
In addition to the machines themselves, the company’s ecosystem includes global partners, local support teams, software and 65 resellers supporting Meltio from around the world.
Alejandro Jiménez, Meltio Engine Project Manager
Regarding its software solutions (Meltio Horizon Slicer and Meltio Space), Jiménez announced the launch of Meltio Horizon 1.4 and Dashboard, a web-based cloud platform for print monitoring, management and more. Then Jiménez and Hoppe officially presented the new Meltio M600 together to thunderous applause.
“This machine is, in our opinion, a game-changer for the way metal parts are made around the world,” Hoppe said. “This machine is completely new. The only thing it has in common with all our existing products is that it also uses the laser wire deposition process. Everything else has been changed.”
The new Meltio M600 was intended to be the ideal 3D printer for the machine shop, providing a solution to fragile supply chains, long lead times and expensive inventory. Hoppe explained that the main reason the M600 is intended for machine shops is post-processing.
“3D printed metal parts always require post-processing using traditional manufacturing methods,” he continued. “At least in the foreseeable future, there will never be a 3D printer from which you can simply take out your finished components. This post-processing, be it for industry or production, always takes place in the machine shop. So the printer should end up in the workshop.”
The printer is designed to take metal AM out of niche areas and introduce the technology into industrial production. Welding wire as a raw material is more cost-effective and safer and poses no risk of contaminating CNC machines, making it an excellent candidate for integration in machine shops and on the factory floor.
As Hoppe explained, the printer is completely idle and can print parts measuring 300 x 400 x 600 mm. It also features a wire drum connection kit and a built-in 3-axis touch button, the latter of which is used to add functions to existing parts. It has an image processing system, a factory calibrated deposition head and, thanks to fully linear encoders, can continue printing in the event of a power failure. Additionally, as the company mentions in its press release, the M600 can print 24/7 with minimal operator interaction, enabling autonomous production. It also features high quality servo motors and ballscrews for minimal maintenance, a dehumidifier to maintain constant environmental conditions and a built-in filtration system.
Using wire LMD, users can print high-quality components with material properties comparable to those that would be achieved with conventional manufacturing, but with safer materials. This was one of the features that Meltio knew would be important for machine shops, along with workholding and hybrid manufacturing, high productivity, ease of use and fast programming, small footprint with large work area, minimal maintenance, competitive cost per kg of material and a large Selection of approved materials.
Speaking of new materials, the M600 can process marine bronze, 5K and 6K series aluminum alloys, super duplex stainless steel and M7 steel, as well as copper chromium zirconium (CuCrZr), a sophisticated printing material with excellent mechanical properties. Meltio actually prints the nozzles of its printers from this material. Hoppe said that aluminum alloys are good for printing large parts, but the resolution is not as high. However, he assured the audience that “we are working on it.” It is important to note that while CuCrZr and aluminum alloys are considered printable on the M600, they are not yet available as testing is still ongoing.
The printer’s blue laser applicator head actually allows the use of these new materials. The special thing about it is that there are no fibers: the lasers are integrated directly into the head. Most industrial lasers emit light in the near-infrared range, but the 450nm blue lasers in Meltio’s new printer reduce energy consumption due to increased absorption of short-wavelength light. According to the company, these lasers improve efficiency and increase speed, allowing the M600 to print 60% faster than the first-generation M450 and achieve an annual throughput of 3,200 kg. This corresponds to approximately 30,000 watch bezels, 125 splines and 1,060 boat mounts.
Meltio also claims that its blue laser applicator head, which features new and improved sensors for pressure monitoring, is aligned at the factory thanks to power distribution and wire routing, so no operator adjustment is required between material changes; Plug and play metal AM again. Of course, if this is truly true, the printer’s output will be more consistent and maintenance will be reduced.
“With this printer we were able to change the way the power is delivered a little bit and improve the way the wire is fed a little bit. Because of these two optimizations, we have actually managed to develop a printer that can be calibrated at the factory. You don’t have to touch it and it will always work,” said Hoppe. “This removes all variations between prints. You have a printer that will be exactly the same when I set it up when Alejandro sets it up, right? So this is a big step forward.”
The final part of the M600 introductory presentation focused on the printer’s “real success story.” Spanish cement company Cementos La Cruz develops 3D printing solutions for construction and cementitious materials with a low carbon footprint. The company focused on the circular economy, has adopted Meltio’s technology for printing metal parts and used the M600 specifically to produce a stainless steel nozzle that enables the production of more sustainable cement parts.
Image courtesy of Meltio
A high level of material flow control is required for typical additive manufacturing, but it is even more important in additive design. A printer’s nozzle is key to achieving high-quality layers, and Cementos La Cruz realized that a 3D printable design would be best suited to create the type of nozzle they wanted. Using Meltio’s wire LMD technology, the company was able to print nozzles that optimize the quality of the layers while controlling the deposition of the concrete.
concrete nozzles
While the system itself was impressive, the event overall was also a success, not only because of the way the machine was presented, but also because of the various ways the Meltio team was able to train participants. As you’ll learn in a follow-up article, we were able to delve into the fine details of the M600 and the surrounding ecosystem through a series of dedicated breakout sessions that gave us new insights into the technology.
