Quality assurance tool for Laser Metal Deposition wins innovation award

Clamir is a system designed to improve quality assurance for LMD and cladding processes (Courtesy New Infrared Technologies)

New Infrared Technologies (NIT), Madrid, Spain, has been recognised with the Innovation Radar Prize 2018 in the category of ‘Industrial & Enabling Tech’ for Clamir, a system designed to improve quality assurance for Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) Additive Manufacturing and cladding processes. With Clamir, NIT is aiming to help achieve ‘zero-defect’ AM.

During LMD and cladding processes, constant and uncontrolled laser power can lead to unstable manufacturing processes, a lack of repeatability, and ultimately the production of low quality or defective parts, resulting in a loss of time and money for the manufacturer. Clamir is said to offer continuous smart monitoring and real-time control of the LMD manufacturing or cladding process.

This is made possible by continuous monitoring and measurement of the melt pool geometry using an MWIR inrared camera (1.1–5 ­µm) attached on-axis to the laser head, and intelligent algorithms. This makes closed-loop control of laser power possible throughout AM process, leading to better quality and repeatability.

The Innovation Radar Prize was presented to Arturo Baldasano, NIT CEO, by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society, and Robert Hofer, Austrian Minister for Transport, Innovation and Technology, in an awards ceremony at the European Commission’s ICT 2018 event in Vienna, Austria.