Ultrasonic welding forms a molecular bond without melting the material; workpiece periphery and internal geometry are machined using a high-speed milling head.

The number of 0.1 mm by 25 mm layers - between one and ten - that are applied side-by-side depends on required workpiece geometry. There are no surface 'steps' and no hand finishing, nor is there warping, shrinking or hydroscopic defects.

The result is components with feature-to-feature accuracies of +/- 0.003 inch and with surface finishes of 0.8 Ra..

Two sizes of the digitally-driven Formation CNC rapid prototyping machine are available: Formation CT having a working area of 16 inch by 16 inch by 10 inch; and Formation XT with a capacity of 42 inch by 36 inch by 10 inch.

Operation is via a simple PC-based user interface and G Code programming utilising Solidica's RpCAM software environment. Machine code can be derived from standard CAD, IGES and STL file formats, and Delcam's user-friendly PowerMill and CopyCAD/PowerShape software can also be utilised.

Formation machines are self-contained and low-cost to run and maintain. Operating automatically, the machine allows part build to be stopped and restarted at any time, to implement engineering changes or to remove parts for a higher priority job, therefore enabling you to be responsive in the most economic way.

Formation is characterised by trouble-free and low-maintenance running costs, leaving you more time to focus on bottom line benefits.