Dec 19, 2018 | By Thomas
Australian metal additive manufacturing company Titomic today announced it has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Shaanxi Lasting Titanium Industry Co. Ltd, the largest manufacturer and exporter of titanium powder in China.
Under the MoU, which has commenced immediately, Lasting Titanium will exclusively supply low-cost commercially pure titanium powders to Titomic. And the partnership is also expected to enable the cooperative development of new titanium powders for the company's Titomic Kinetic Fusion (TKF) systems.
Jointly developed by CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, and Force Industries, the Titomic Kinetic Fusion process takes cold spray technology, but uses it to 3D print parts from titanium alloys.
The process involves spraying titanium powder in a chamber, where gas is heated up that accelerates the titanium particles through a nozzle and out of a spray gun. That spray gun is controlled by a robotic arm to spray in precise patterns, and when particles “hit” each other on the surface, they become bonded at a mechanical level through a process of plastic deformation.
And Titomic Kinetic Fusion isn’t just different in the way it fabricates metal parts—it’s also printing those parts on an uncommonly large scale. The bus-sized 3D printer is capable of printing large titanium components – from golf clubs to complex aircraft wing parts. It can also print metal bike frames in around 25 minutes.
According to Titomic managing director Jeff Lang, “This MoU will provide exclusive supply of large volumes of price point titanium powder for use in Titomic’s TKF systems to create new commercial opportunities for titanium in traditional industries in a more efficient and sustainable way for industrial scale manufacturing”.
Lasting Titanium’s irregular powder has been described as a “price point alternative” to go with Titomic’s other range of mid-end and aerospace grade titanium powders. According to Titomic, Lasting Titanium’s irregular powder morphology is suitable for industrial scale additive manufacturing via TKF systems, other additive manufacturing processes cannot utilise this price point irregular powder.
Posted in 3D Printer Company
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