Hiperbaric to supply first Spanish-built HIP system to TTT Group
Hiperbaric, located in Burgos, Spain, will supply TTT Group with the first Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) machine featuring 100% Spanish technology to be marketed in Spain. The machine, a Hiperbaric HIP 107 industrial model, enables post-processing and enhances the mechanical properties of critical metal components intended for industries such as aerospace, defence, and energy, particularly when casting and Additive Manufacturing are used.
The supplied model features high industrial capabilities, operating at extreme pressures of up to 2,000 bar (200 MPa) and temperatures of up to 1,400 °C (with the option to reach 2,000 °C). The equipment incorporates Fast Cooling technology, which allows the heat treatment cycle and material consolidation to be integrated into a single step, reportedly reducing energy costs and optimising cycle times.
Andrés Hernando, CEO of Hiperbaric, shared, “We are immensely proud that our first HIP system installed in Spain is being deployed by a leader like TTT Group. We’ve been exporting our leadership in high-pressure technology to all five continents for 27 years, and seeing our own domestic industry firmly commit to taking this leap toward excellence in critical components strengthens our position at home.”
Xabier Berasategi, CEO of TTT Group, commented, “This operation represents the largest investment in our company’s 65-year history. For TTT Group, incorporating Hiperbaric’s HIP technology aligns with a clear strategy of diversification and high added value, with a particular focus on the aerospace sector; it also opens the door to other markets and future technologies such as Additive Manufacturing and Near Net Shape (PM-HIP). With this equipment, we not only eliminate microscopic internal pores in mechanical parts to ensure their extreme fatigue resistance, but we also provide the market with a comprehensive competitive advantage: heat treatments and HIP densification under one roof.”
With more than 65 years of history and a solid presence in the European automotive and aerospace supply chains, TTT Group provides heat treatments, surface treatments, and coatings for major OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers. With this new investment, the company is definitively expanding its industrial capabilities into emerging markets such as Oil & Gas.
HIP treatment subjects components to pressures of up to 2,000 bar and temperatures of up to 1,400 °C, improving their mechanical properties, such as fatigue life, resilience, and ductility. The company states that Hiperbaric is the only company in Spain that manufactures HIP equipment and operates, at its facilities, the first HIP Innovation Center in Southern Europe, where researchers test new material developments using HIP.
In addition to improving mechanical properties, HIP increases fatigue resistance and results in parts with a fine-grained microstructure and excellent mechanical properties. This technology eliminates porosity and other internal defects, provides greater consistency in high-performance materials, allows for the remanufacturing of defective parts, and enables lighter, more weight-efficient designs.
Specifically, the process reaches pressure levels twice those found at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, making it possible to process everything from high-precision fasteners to critical industrial components.
This announcement follows Hiperbaric’s sale of its first HIP system to Plus Metal last year.
