On November 1, the 2024 Hard Science and Technology Innovation Conference and China Robot Competition opened in Xi'an International Convention and Exhibition Center. With the theme of "Hard Science and Technology · New quality Productivity", the conference released 9 "hard science and technology major breakthroughs" in Xi 'an, and Xi 'an Sailong AM Technologies Co., LTD. "High-power, high-precision, long-life and low-cost tungsten cathode thermal electron gun" was selected.

The electron gun is the core device of the powder bed electron beam 3D printing equipment, which determines the forming size, printing accuracy and the quality and performance of the forming parts. Different from the laser dedicated to powder bed laser 3D printing equipment, there are no commercial products of electron guns at home and abroad, and each powder bed electron beam 3D printing equipment manufacturer must first develop a special electron gun before developing the equipment. In recent years, China, the United States, Japan, Sweden, the United Kingdom and other countries have increased the research and development of special electron guns for powder bed electron beam 3D printing equipment, and have successively developed direct thermal electron guns with tungsten and LaB6 as cathodes, but there is still a contradiction between power, life, accuracy and cost.

Xi 'an Sailong technical team uses tungsten as the cathode material, adopts the principle of interthermal cathode, combines with the process requirements of powder bed electron beam 3D printing technology to carry out structural innovation and function expansion, takes the lead in the world to develop a high-power, high-precision, long-life low-cost interthermal electron gun, and realizes the independent control of core components. The thermal electron gun has a power of up to 10kW, a minimum beam spot diameter of < 100μm, a cathode assembly life of > 500 hours, and a cost much lower than the directly heated LaB6 cathode. Based on this technological breakthrough, the company developed a series of powder bed electron beam 3D printing equipment with different forming sizes and different power interthermal electron guns, and achieved mass sales in medical, aerospace, automotive, scientific research and other fields.

In the future, Xi 'an Sailong will continue to focus on the development of powder bed electron beam 3D printing new quality productivity, market-oriented, user-centered, deep application scenarios, and boost metal 3D printing technology innovation and industrial application.