DED as the obvious choice for heavy manufacturing 16 NOVEMBER 2018

Directed Energy Deposition (DED) can refer to various AM techniques, such as laser engineered net shaping, directed light fabrication, direct metal deposition and 3D laser cladding. It is a more complex printing process commonly used to repair or add additional material to existing components (Gibson et al., 2010). Typical applications include repairing and maintaining structural parts, hence DED is a preferred AM technology in many heavy manufacturing industries as compared to sectors that work with smaller parts.

A typical DED machine consists of a print nozzle mounted on a robotic, multi-axis arm, which deposits melted material onto the specified surface, where it solidifies. The material, which can be deposited from any angle is then melted upon deposition with a laser or electron beam. This therefore allows for large format printing to occur, and often with high precision. The process can be used with polymers, ceramics but is typically used with metals, in the form of either powder or wire. For us, this refers to our in house LAAM and H-WAAM technologies respectively.

Contact our friendly sales team today to find out if DED is the right AM technology for you!