Material handling expertise gained by automation solutions developer Piab within the pharmaceutical, food and chemicals sectors is now being extended to the additive manufacturing industry.

The Piab premium steel grade piFLOW®p vacuum conveyor technology is well suited to solve challenges related to additive manufacturing such as safe handling of hazardous materials or easy transfer of materials to and Source: Piabfrom the printer. These vacuum conveyors streamline the tasks of filling a printer with metal powders, reclaiming or cleaning excess material from a printer post-production, and filling or emptying metal powders from and to adjacent equipment such as a sieve or a powder container. Vacuum technology can handle high density materials and transfer them with speed and reliability.

The conveyors offer an enclosed system to improve operator safety by affording protection from contact with hazardous materials and by preventing reactive powders from contact with unwanted matter. Powder handling is usually a manual process, but with vacuum conveying the process is automated.

Recommended configurations of the ATEX certified systems to meet the needs of additive manufacturing operations include the piFLOW®p 3 liter with a 200 pump, PLR02 filter and 32 mm conveying line; and the piFLOW®p 3 liter with a 400 pump, PLR04 filter and 32 mm or 38 mm conveying line.