Direct Energy Deposition (DED) is a laser process for processing powder or wire-like filler materials. Different material compositions can be used depending on the application.
Arnold's flex cells and gantries are ideal for integrating these processes. Arnold has already built numerous powder and wire deposition welding systems in the past. These applications primarily involved the repair of turbine blades and engine components. The DED process allows for the complete generation of complex components. The development of new beam sources, powder nozzles, and coaxial wire nozzles has opened up entirely new possibilities. The use of a wide variety of laser sources, from single-mode fiber lasers to diode lasers and disk lasers, each combined with core/ring fiber technology, makes the application range virtually limitless.
The Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen and Oerlikon in Switzerland are qualifying DED processes on Arnold systems and optimizing them for series production. Arnold specializes in implementing such processes in laser systems. Challenges that arise during the qualification phase are implemented promptly, reliably, and in a customer-oriented manner, both in terms of mechanical engineering and control technology. Arnold excels in this area with its enormous flexibility. Beam sources, nozzles, powder feeders, and wire feeders are all selected in collaboration with the customer to optimize the project.
In addition to the two systems for development at the Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen and at Oerlikon in Wohlen, we delivered a gantry for this purpose to a customer in Sweden. Two more systems for production went to Oerlikon, and a large gantry system for a customer in Italy is currently being built in our factory. Oerlikon performed the component qualification for these customers on our development system.
Our Flex-Line and Premium Line systems with up to seven NC axes are available as DED system concepts. They offer high repeatability and precision for applications in aerospace, automotive, and medical technology.
We look forward to hearing from you. You can reach us at or by phone at +49 751 36169 199