Manchester, Greater Manchester, England - Wolfmet Tungsten Alloys has launched a new selective laser melting (SLM) capability (an additive manufacturing technique) that will enable the company to produce pure tungsten components and parts at a higher level of complexity and accuracy, primarily for the nuclear imaging sector.
"SLM can produce complex collimators with extremely fine grids. This enhances the quality of the image, as the photons are channeled more accurately through the collimator to the detector and scatter is reduced," explains Michael Anderson, product group director for Wolfmet.
Using data from a 3D file, SLM comprises a high-power laser that fuses successive layers of tungsten powder until a complex component is produced. The company's SLM capability produces highly complex component designs, creates shapes not possible with traditional milling and turning, offers improved resolution via thinner septa and smaller apertures, eliminates tooling costs for new designs and prototypes, does not penalize for short production runs cost-wise, is non-magnetic, and offers reduced delivery times.
The company will be sharing more information about its SLM capability at the EANM Congress, to be held October 10-14, 2015, in Hamburg, Germany (Stand 224, The Pavilion).
For more information, please visit http://static.mimaterials.com/SLMflyerweb.pdf or e-mail Steve Jeffery at [email protected].