The use of wire feedstock with a laser energy source in DED has gained momentum in recent years, with increasing research and industrial applications. These features make it a new and promising option in the field of additive manufacturing, generating significant interest and exploration across various industries.

The main difference between Directed Energy Deposition (DED) and other additive manufacturing processes lies in the way the material is deposited and the overall approach to building parts or components.

Deposition Method

In DED, a focused energy source, such as a laser or electron beam, is used to melt and fuse metallic material as it is precisely deposited layer by layer. This allows for the creation of complex geometries and the addition of material to existing structures.

Feedstock

DED typically uses wire feedstock as the material, in contrast with other processes such as PBF that use metallic powder as the raw material.

Applications

DED is well-suited for repairing components, adding material to worn-out parts, and building medium to large-scale, complex structures, such as industrial machinery or aerospace components.

Other metallic additive manufacturing processes, such as Selective Laser Melting (SLM) and Electron Beam Melting (EBM), fall under the category of Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) techniques. In PBF, a thin layer of metallic powder is spread over the build platform, and a laser or electron beam selectively melts the powder to create the desired shape one layer at a time. The process is repeated for each layer until the final part is complete.

If you are interested in learning more about Meltio's patented DED process, you can request a sample part below. Or reach out to one of our additive manufacturing experts today.