Electron Beam Melting (EBM)
High vacuum and enormous heat: 3D printing of titanium and brittle high-performance materials.
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Powder Bed Fusion – Electron Beam / Metal
Powder bed process in which an electron beam fuses metal powder under vacuum. (Commercially often referred to as Electron Beam Melting / EBM.)
Operating Principle & Process Flow
Operating Principle: An electron beam is magnetically deflected and focused to locally melt metal powder in a vacuum chamber. The powder bed is maintained at elevated temperature.
Process Flow: Bed preheating → Powder spreading → Pre-sintering/preheating of powder → Selective melting → Platform lowering → Repeat → Cooling → Depowdering.
Technical Specifications
- Energy Source: Electron beam (accelerated electrons under high vacuum).
- Feedstock / Material Feed: Powder bed.
- Typical Part Size: Small to medium parts (typically up to ~350×350×430 mm).
- Build Rate: Medium (typically faster than single-laser PBF-LB/M due to inertia-free beam deflection).
- Accuracy: Medium to high (lower than PBF-LB/M).
- Surface Quality: Rougher than PBF-LB/M (Ra 20–35 µm).
Applications & Materials
Typical Materials: Primarily titanium alloys (Ti-6Al-4V), cobalt-chrome, copper, refractory metals.
Typical Applications: Orthopaedic implants, turbine blades (titanium aluminides).
Industries: Medical technology, aerospace, energy.
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