EUROMOLD 2009: EOS PRESENTS NEW METAL MATERIALS
Materials meet high requirements, opening up new application areas

Frankfurt am Main/Germany, 2 December, 2009 – EOS, the world-leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems, is highlighting a number of new materials at its booth C08 in the new hall 11 at this year’s EuroMold 2009 to be held in Frankfurt am Main/Germany December 2-5. New metal materials for EOSINT M 270 systems include EOS NickelAlloy IN718 and EOS Aluminium AlSi10Mg.
Dr. Hans Langer, CEO and founder of EOS, stresses: “Developing new materials for laser-sintering pushes our technology to the next level. Here we work very closely with our clients. Meeting the manufacturing challenges and application requirements that clients have previously expressed to EOS, we develop new materials that are ideally applicable to manufacturing as well as to our systems and processes. Based on the design possibilities that e-Manufacturing can offer, our clients can even improve their product performance considerably.”

EOS NickelAlloy IN718: meeting high-temperature requirements
EOS NickelAlloy IN718 is a nickel-based heat resistant superalloy which corresponds to the commonly-known Inconel 718 alloy. It is a precipitation-hardening nickel-chromium alloy characterized by having good tensile, fatigue, creep and rupture strength at temperatures up to 700°C. It shows outstanding corrosion resistance and is ideal for many high temperature applications, and also possesses excellent cryogenic properties. The main target group for this material is the aerospace industry.
Due to the very demanding requirements of this industry, EOS has already been through an extended development and test phase that included several pilot customers. EOS has developed process parameters which enable good part-building and ensure that the relevant industrial standards for this material type can be reliably fulfilled. These include heat treatment in accordance with AMS 5662 and AMS 5664 standards as well as tensile and stress-rupture properties at elevated temperature (650°C, 1200°F).

Greg Morris, President of pilot-user Morris Technologies, Inc., states: "We have been supplying parts in EOS CobaltChrome MP1 as a preferred material for high-stress/high-temperature environments since 2005. Since working with EOS NickelAlloy IN718, this has become our front-line material of choice for many applications in aerospace and other demanding applications. This material allows us to produce parts that will see some of the most demanding environments including high temperatures, high stress loads and extended fatigue situations. Not only has EOS NickelAlloy IN718 performed well in such tests and environments, but Morris Technologies’ material characterization efforts have also demonstrated that it performs well to ASTM standards."

Ian Halliday, CEO of pilot-user 3T RPD Ltd., adds: “EOS NickelAlloy IN718 has helped to open up new application areas for us, and we are working with some of our customers to qualify this material for future series production of aerospace components. Tests have shown already that the mechanical properties of parts built from this material exceed what our customers are used to from cast parts, and they also report that the parts are easier to machine than conventional Inconel 718 parts.”

EOS Aluminium AlSi10Mg: light weight and excellent thermal conductivity
EOS will also be highlighting EOS Aluminium AlSi10Mg at this year’s EuroMold. This typical casting alloy is the first aluminium alloy to be qualified for EOSINT M 270 systems and opens up new application areas due to its light weight and excellent thermal conductivity. EOS has done thorough process development and testing as preparation for the market launch. Cast parts in conventional AlSi10Mg are typically subjected to T6 heat treatment including solution annealing and quenching followed by age hardening at elevated temperatures. Mike Shellabear, Vice President M Technology at EOS, adds: “Due to the rapid melting and resolidification caused by the laser exposure, the laser-sintered parts match or even exceed the conventional heat-treated parts already in the as-built condition, so even more time and cost can be saved in the process chain.”
At EuroMold, EOS is exhibiting examples of how intelligent design, such as hollow parts or various mesh-like fill structures, can be implemented by laser-sintering to offer new possibilities like extremely high stiffness-to-weight ratios. These are expected to fully open up new markets in the light alloys area.

About EOS
EOS was founded in 1989 and is today the world-leading manufacturer of laser-sintering systems. Laser-sintering is the key technology for e-Manufacturing—the fast, flexible and cost-effective production of patterns and tools, as well as end products. Laser-sintering accelerates product development and optimizes manufacturing processes. It creates parts directly from electronic data for every phase of the product lifecycle, from prototypes to tooling to production parts. EOS completed its business year 2008/2009 with revenues of approximately 60 million Euros. The company employs 300 people worldwide, 250 of them in Krailling near Munich, Germany. For more information visit www.eos.info

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