The new VOLKMANN depowdering station enables the highly efficient depowdering of the build box & build component in a fully automated process. Both are loaded directly from the 3D metal printer into the depowdering station without the need for intermediate steps such as unpacking the built component.
The entire cleaning process takes place within an enclosed chamber either under atmospheric conditions or inert gas. After inverting the build box complete with its printed components, they are gas jet cleaned by cleaning nozzles (compressed air or inert gas). This not only removes the surplus metal powder from the deepest crevices of the built component, but also removes the adhering powder from the build box allowing the component to be extracted.
The process takes place in a hermetically sealed chamber and the extracted air is cleaned via filter, which ensures the protection of the operator from metal powder and dust.
The VOLKMANN depowdering station was developed as part of the IDAM research project and has proven itself in numerous test series under production conditions.