CETIM, the French technical institute for the mechanical engineering industry, is pushing large-format Laser Powder Bed Fusion from prototype towards industrial serial production. At that scale, build preparation becomes the decisive lever — one unfavourable orientation does not cost a single part, it can cost an entire build job running many hours.
The dilemma of large parts
The larger the part, the more critical thermal management becomes. High and uneven heat input creates residual stress and distortion. Conventionally this is countered with support structures that dissipate heat and fix geometry — but support costs material, build time and laborious post-processing, and often cannot be removed from internal geometries at all.
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