3DPro® Cabinet

Nippon Gases has developed the 3DPro® Cabinet to significantly reduce product defects caused by oxygen and moisture. By eliminating these factors, the process becomes more stable and standardised.

This cabinet ensures the protection of metal powder through its design, which maintains a constant flow of inert gas. The gas flow is deactivated when the cabinet is opened to remove metal dust and reactivated when the door is closed. Additionally, the cabinet features heated support surfaces that draw out moisture from the dust, which is then eliminated through the controlled inert gas flow.

However, it’s less known that humidity can also negatively impact these processes, sometimes even more so than oxygen. Both oxygen and humidity must be removed to ensure optimal results in 3D printing.

Our R&D centers have conducted numerous studies demonstrating how oxygen and humidity cause imperfections in the metallurgical structure of 3D-printed products. These studies revealed that the presence of these contaminants inside the chamber is directly proportional to the number of defects in the final product.

Metal powders are normally supplied in inertised containers and as these are opened, the material comes into contact with air.

Metal powders are very susceptible to absorbing oxygen and are hygroscopic due to their properties, spherical shape and particle size.

3D printing processes can be of different types: PBF, EBM, DED, FDM, and the most recent one WAAM. There are also many different metals, often noble ones, that can also be processed, reason why this is an expensive process. All these different processes have a common characteristic, which is to protect the manufactured product from oxidisation during construction and heat treatment phases.

So, to preserve the metallurgical characteristics of the metal powder essential to obtain the finished product, it is important to use high-quality gas.