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Formnext, which will be launched next week, is always a venue for major announcements and product displays. Last year, the Polish company 3D Lab demonstrated its first original machine-ATO One, which is the first metal powder atomizer that meets laboratory standards. 3D Lab has existed for ten years, but before that it has been a service organization and retailer of 3D Systems 3D printers, so launching its first machine is a big deal. Since launching ATO One, 3D Lab has received several pre-orders and has been perfecting the machine in the past year. Now with the arrival of Formnext this year, the company is preparing to launch the final version of the product: ATO Lab.
According to 3D Lab, ATO Lab is the first compact machine of its kind that can atomize a small amount of metal powder. It is specially designed for researching new materials, but it also has many other applications. The cost of other metal atomizers on the market far exceeds 1 million US dollars, but the cost of the ATO laboratory is only a small part of this amount, and can be easily installed in any office or laboratory.
ATO Lab uses an ultrasonic atomization technology to achieve spherical particles with a diameter of 20 to 100 μm. The process is carried out in a protective gas atmosphere. ATO Lab can atomize a variety of materials, including aluminum, titanium, stainless steel and precious metals. The company said the machine is also easy to use, with a user-friendly software system and touch screen. The user can control several process parameters.
The advantages of ATO Lab include the ability to atomize a variety of materials at a relatively low production cost, and there is no limit to the minimum amount of powder to be prepared. This is a scalable system that gives flexibility to the manufacturing process and allows small and medium-sized companies to easily access material processing.
3D Lab started researching atomization three years ago. The company hopes to quickly produce small quantities of raw materials for metal additive manufacturing research and process parameter selection. The team found that the range of commercially available powders is very limited, and the long implementation time for small orders and high raw material costs make it impossible to implement cost-effective solutions using currently available atomization methods.
In addition to finalizing the ATO Lab, 3D Lab also announced that the Polish venture capital company Altamira has invested 6.6 million Polish zlotys (1.8 million US dollars) to develop atomizer manufacturing plants and establish global distribution channels. 3D Lab also recently moved to a brand new facility in Warsaw. The first batch of ATO Lab equipment is expected to be shipped in the first quarter of 2019.
Formnext will be held in Frankfurt, Germany from November 13th to 16th. 3D Lab will demonstrate ATO Lab live for the first time; if you will participate in the exhibition, you can visit the company and see the operation of the atomizer at booth G-20 in Hall 3.0.
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