University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The Grainger College of Engineering
Applied Research Institute

Additive Manufacturing Equipment

Additive Manufacturing Equipment

With equipment capabilities in metal laser powder-bed fusion additive manufacturing (PB-FAM), fused deposition modeling, and pellet and DirectWrite printing, ARI can deposit a broad range of metal alloys, plastics, plastic/polymer composites, gels, and pastes. Utilizing our high-speed thermographic system and integrated high-resolution cameras, we can also measure temperature profiles and capture spatter events in real-time, enabling us to develop digital twins of the laser PB-FAM process. 

Mlab

The Mlab can process a variety of powdered materials, ranging from stainless steel 316 and Co-Cr (CoCrW) to reactive powders as aluminum (AlSi10Mg) and titanium (Ti6Al4V). The system is configured for process parameter changes during build processing and is equipped with a high-speed thermographic system for in-situ build status monitoring. The Mlab has a 100W fiber laser and a build volume of 90 × 90 × 80 mm.

Panda 3D metal printer

The Panda 3D metal printing system is a powder bed additive machine with a 280 × 280 × 318 mm build configuration and a powerful 1000W single laser. The Panda has an open machine control software that allows for full control of processing parameters and enables dynamic process control. The machine is equipped with a multitude of process monitoring sensors including an integrated co-axial camera for high-speed melt imaging and temperature indication, a recoat imaging sensor, and a spatter tracking sensor. The machine can process most metals and ceramic powders and is a powerful tool for both additive manufacturing research and technology development. 

NX Pro Dual Pellet-Pellet 3D-printer

The Tumaker NX Pro Pellet 3D-printer can directly print thermoplastics from pellet form. A wide range of materials can be printed such as ABS, PLA, PCL, and PEKK. The maximum printing temperature is 350 °C. The machine is equipped with two pellet printer heads with different nozzle diameters, including 04, 0.6, and 0.8 mm. The maximum printing volume is (290x180x200) mm.

High Speed Camera

The ImageIR 8380hp is a high-end infrared camera with a temperature measuring range from -10 to 3000 °C at an accuracy of 1%. The camera has a 640 × 512 IR pixels cooled InSb detector with a 15µm pitch. The maximum frame rate is 5000 Hz and the spectral range is 1.5 – 5.7 µm. The camera is equipped with a 10 GigE interface for reliable high-speed data transmission without the need for buffering.