Laminated Object Manufacturing

Laminated Object Manufacturing (LOM) is a manufacturing technique, which is frequently employed in Rapid Manufacturing (RM). Helisys, Inc. (Torrance) in 1991 commercialized LOM. Paper coated with adhesive was used as a basic material, which was cut by a laser beam into the desired shape.

The paper sheets were stacked and joined by thermal activated gluing in an automated procedure. Nowadays, plastic, composites with glass fibers and ceramics are also stacked together using the principle of LOM technology. The produced parts show a relatively high accuracy because the general layer thickness is approximately 0.1 mm.

As the layers are first joined and then cut to produce the required parts, the procedure is exactly a hybrid between additive and subtractive manufacturing. However, the joining step is dominating so that LOM can be classified as an additive technology.

It should be noted that the mechanical and/or thermal properties of such LOM parts are insufficient for applications in many cases. One important example hereby is the manufacturing of functional tools like molds. Therefore, metal sheet as a LOM base material is a field of research, too.

The procedure is quite similar to “paper LOM”: After generating the layers by laser beam cutting the contours are glued, bolt or welded together. This technique is a partial automated procedure because only the cutting process is numerically controlled.

Produced parts show properties according to the used sheet material and especially the kind of joining process. For example, diffusion welding nearly enables a mechanical strength like the base material.

LOM is a novel technology for additive manufacturing of massive three-dimensional parts. It enables the production of technical tools like molds, for example. The great advantage hereby is the high accuracy in combination with a high stability of the resulting tool.