Renishaw will unveil LIBERTAS, new software for its RenAM 500 series metal additive manufacturing systems, at IMTS 2026 in Chicago from September 14 to 19. The software targets two persistent problems in laser powder bed fusion: rough downskin surface finish and the need for support structures, delivered as an upgrade module inside Renishaw's QuantAM build preparation software.

Traditional support structures manage heat and distortion during a build, but they also increase material use, extend build times, and require costly post-processing to remove. LIBERTAS instead dynamically adjusts laser scan parameters and scan paths across different sections of a part's geometry during the build itself, letting engineers manage thermal behavior directly rather than compensate for it with scaffolding. Engineers designing components with overhangs and internal channels, features that have historically demanded extensive, hard-to-reach supports, will care about how much post-processing time LIBERTAS removes from the workflow.

Access requires no hardware upgrade. LIBERTAS is a software add-on, and a single license covers multiple RenAM 500 systems. Renishaw is positioning the technology for medical, aerospace and defense, and consumer electronics manufacturers, citing applications from dental frameworks to nozzle guide vanes and blisks to wearable devices, components where limited tool access makes CNC machining impractical.

The RenAM 500 series spans single-laser (500S), dual-laser (500D), and four-laser (500Q) configurations, each built around 500W lasers and a 250mm x 250mm x 350mm build volume. LIBERTAS works across all three.

Renishaw previewed LIBERTAS at Formnext 2025 in Frankfurt last November, running it inside a full production cell that printed a nozzle guide vane on a RenAM 500 Ultra, machined it on a Chiron Micro 5XL, and inspected it on the company's Equator-X dual-method gauging system. Chris Dimery, Renishaw's Additive Manufacturing EMEA Business Manager, called the demo a look at "what is possible when you work with the right partner." The IMTS appearance marks the software's shift from demo floor to a shipping QuantAM upgrade module, at Booth 338469, McCormick Place, September 14 to 19.