Laminated object manufacturing (LOM)
Laminated object manufacturing (LOM) is a rapid prototyping system developed by Helisys Inc. (Cubic Technologies is now the successor organization of Helisys) In it, layers of adhesive-coated paper, plastic, or metal laminates are successively glued together and cut to shape with a knife or laser cutter. Objects printed with this technique may be additionally modified by machining or drilling after printing. Typical layer resolution for this process is defined by the material feedstock and usually ranges in thickness from one to a few sheets of copy paper.
Working Process
Laminated object manufacturing is a lesser known additive manufacturing process where an object is created by successively layering sheets of builds material, bonding them through heat and pressure and then cutting them into the desired shape using either a blade or a carbon laser. Mcor Technologies offers a newer form of the process known as Selective Deposition Lamination. In this process, sheets of standard A4 or letter-sized paper are cut into shape using a tungsten carbide blade and then bonded by selectively placed droplets of a water-based adhesive. Areas that will make up the final part receive a high concentration of the adhesive, while areas used for support receive less.
The process is performed as follows:
- Sheet is adhered to a substrate with a heated roller.
- Laser traces desired dimensions of prototype.
- Laser cross hatches non-part area to facilitate waste removal.
- Platform with completed layer moves down out of the way.
- Fresh sheet of material is rolled into position.
- Platform downs into new position to receive next layer.
- The process is repeated.
Applications
LOM machines are used mainly for rapid prototyping plastic parts. Its low price and fastness makes it convenient to make prototypes, even though the produced objects are far from end-use parts.
Mcor proposes a particular kind of LOM that they named Selective Deposition Lamination (SDL). It is a paper based technology that adds color in the print. Sheets of paper are color printed, selectively glued and cut with a blade. The glue is only applied in the surface corresponding to the object, then it is easier to excavate the final object. Plus, the addition of color allows this technology to compete with binder jetting technologies to produce multicolor objects, even if the quality is not the same.
Advantages
- The materials being used are consistent,
- Readily available and well understood.
- Depending on the type of binding resin used, LOM provides one of the largest operating temperature windows.