Volkmann, Inc. showcased its Additive Manufacturing Material Handling System (AMMHAS) at formnext at Frankfurt am Main, Germany from November 14-17, 2017. The Volkmann AMMHAS is designed specifically to enhance additive manufacturing technology when handling metal powders or toxic materials.

The AMMHAS system consists of three elements to recover any unused material, screen it, and finally return the material to the machine or a container for future use. It is available as a mobile unit or a fixed floor-mounted assembly. Developed with Volkmann’s pneumatic vacuum technology, it offers contained transfer of material from pick-up locations to the manufacturing unit, and then through the capture, integrated screening and return-to-use stations. This high level of containment meets potential environmental issues, and addresses operator safety in all applications.

It has successfully been used in operations using metals and materials such as tungsten, cobalt, silver powder, iron, stainless steel, alumina, nickel chrome, copper, chrono K20, carbide dust, corundum and G.62 with bulk densities ranging from 93 to 341 lbs/ft3. The unit works in both a normal air environment and under an inert gas. Where inert transfer is required, the system is designed in a “closed loop” so that inert gas is both contained and reused, avoiding the additional cost of large volumes of inert gas. In this version, a special configuration gas-tight electric pump is used to maintain system temperature and containment.