Meltio prints 13kg stainless-steel World Cup trophy replica in 20 hours using wire-laser DED
Hardware
Originally reported by The MachineMaker
Meltio, the Spanish metal AM company known for wire-laser metal deposition (W-LMD), produced a stainless-steel replica of the FIFA World Cup trophy at its Linares, Jaen facility to mark Spain's July 19 win over Argentina. The piece was built on a Meltio Engine head mounted to an industrial robotic arm, using welding wire melted by multiple lasers rather than metal powder, in roughly 20 hours. The finished part measures 29.5cm tall, 13cm in diameter, and weighs about 13kg. Meltio states the trophy is an unlicensed tribute, not a FIFA product, and it is not for sale.
The trophy's continuously changing curves, absent flat reference surfaces, and multiple overhangs make it a useful stress test for DED precision rather than a typical production part. Meltio's core business runs on the same W-LMD process for aerospace, defense, automotive, and oil and gas customers, largely for new-build and repair of components where wire feedstock's lower waste and reduced post-processing outweigh the coarser resolution of powder-bed systems. As a company with systems in more than 60 countries, this kind of demonstration functions primarily as sales collateral for its repair and large-format DED business rather than a standalone product announcement.
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