In April 2020, British startup Wayland Additive revealed the first details about a new metal 3D printing process it was developing called NeuBeam. Now, the company has officially announced the commercial launch date for its first NeuBeam-based production system, the Calibur 3: January 27, 2021.

Based in West Yorkshire, Wayland Additive has pioneered a new approach to metal AM that combines the benefits of laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and eBeam PBF, while also overcoming many of the challenges associated with them, including internal residual stresses and material limitations. According to Wayland, its NeuBeam process is even capable of processing reflective and refractive materials, which have been notoriously challenging to print using laser-based processes.

Another aspect that sets the NeuBeam process apart is that it is a “hot part” process rather than a “hot bed” technology, meaning that high temperatures are only applied to the part being printed, not the print bed. This reduces the occurrence of sintercakes by ensuring free-flowing powder once the build is complete. Notably, it also results in a more energy efficient process.

In about half a year, when the Calibur 3 NeuBeam system is released, the AM industry will have a more comprehensive understanding of the company’s new metal AM technology and its potential. The soon-to-be-released system, which is expected to ship later in 2021, also offers fully embedded in-process monitoring capabilities to ensure traceability and oversight for every printed component.

“We are very happy to confirm the launch date for the Calibur 3 On 27^th January next year we will be unveiling the full specs of the machine to our early adopters and partners as well as to the press at a dedicated event,” said Peter Hansford, Director of Business Development at Wayland Additive. “Currently the plan is to bring people in to see it in action for themselves if we are able to with Covid-19 restrictions, but we will also be live-streaming the event for interested parties that may not be able to attend.”

He added: “2020 has been an unprecedented year in many ways and the global pandemic has caused a great deal of disruption and uncertainty. At Wayland, however, we have been able to navigate through these difficulties and keep our focus on the development of our system. Talking to industrial users of metal AM throughout, it is clear that despite the disruptions, many companies are still making medium and long-term plans, and we look forward to serving them with our ground-breaking technology.”