CMS KREATOR, the hybrid system for additive manufacturing and milling: making additive real!

16 November 2022

CMS, leader in CNC machines for composites and plastics processing, started in 2018, in cooperation with the prestigious German Fraunhofer Institut, to develop an original LFAM (Large Format Additive Manufacturing) solution, for improving the competitiveness of composite and other industries: CMS Kreator.

This machine takes advantage of the CMS mechanical base, an integrated machining centre for vertical milling ideal for composite materials, plastics, aluminium, light alloys and metals processing. The advanced design of its structures and the result of CMS’s continuous investments in R&D with the sophisticated technological solutions adopted, provides rigidity and precision, and exceptional movement dynamics.

The Additive Manufacturing technology adopted is Screw Extrusion Additive Manufacturing (SEAM):

- Thermoplastic polymer, in granulated form is the material used;

- The polymer is almost always reinforced (discontinuous fibres of carbon or glass) and the reinforcement is inside the granules;

- The extrusion is done by a single screw extruder that melts the granules;

- The extruder is moved by the tool machine’s axes;

- The melted polymer exiting the extruder is deposited in layers that plasticize and form a single piece.

ADVANTAGES

High flexibility

The CMS Kreator technology allows for 45° and 90° printing. The CMS Kreator technology permits the use of different kinds of materials: PA, PP, PESU, PEI, PET, ABS, AIRTECH DAHLTRAM, and much more.