Optomec LENS Technology

Optomec’s LENS - Laser Engineered Net Shaping solutions have evolved from technology that was pioneered at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories under the direction of Dave Keicher who now serves as Optomec's CTO and Vice President of R&D.
LENS utilizes a high-power laser (500W to 4kW) to fuse powdered metals into fully dense 3-dimensional structures. The LENS system uses the geometric information contained in a Computer-Aided Design (CAD) solid model to automatically drive the LENS process as it builds up a component layer by layer. Additional software and closed-loop process controls ensure the geometric and mechanical integrity of the completed part.
With an Optomec LENS system, the process is housed in a hermetic chamber which is purged with argon so that the oxygen and moisture levels stay below 10 parts per million. This helps to keep the part clean and prevents contamination from oxygen or nitrogen. The metal powder feedstock is delivered to the deposition head by Optomec’s proprietary powder-feed system, which is able to precisely regulate mass flow. Once a single layer has been deposited, the deposition head moves on to the next layer. By building up the successive layers, the whole part is constructed. When complete, the component is removed and can be heat-treated, Hot-Isostatic-Pressed, machined, or finished in any customary manner.
Optomec holds numerous patents and has many patents pending on its proprietary LENS process and equipment.

Development History
The process underlying LENS is a mature technology kernel that has been under development for more than twenty years. Since 1997, Optomec has focused on making substantial investments in proprietary process, system and control enhancements in order to provide a robust solution that can meet the demanding requirements of industry. Likewise, Optomec has worked extensively with the US Department of Defense (DoD) and major aerospace, defense and medical device OEMs to ensure that commercial LENS systems address the production needs of our users.

Metallurgy Briefing
The LENS system can process a wide variety of metals including titanium, nickel-based super alloys, stainless steels, tool steels, etc. – all of which are commercially available in the requisite powder form. The results from LENS consistently demonstrate better metallurgical and mechanical properties than other processes due to an improved microstructure with significantly reduced grain sizes. For example, LENS-deposited 316SS typically has a cellular spacing of just a few microns, which leads to yield strengths approaching twice that of conventionally processed 316SS.