AP&C to supply Airbus with titanium powders for AM
December 3, 2021
Plasma atomised titanium, aluminium and nickel powder provider AP&C, a GE Additive company, has signed a new agreement with Airbus to provide titanium powders (Ti6AI4V) for use in metal Additive Manufacturing.
“The adoption of metal additive technology in aerospace continues to gather momentum,” stated Alain Dupont, CEO at AP&C. “And one of the challenges of matching that pace in a highly-regulated industry like aerospace, is building a robust supply chain that can meet both the industry standard for conventionally and additively manufactured parts, but also add value.”
AP&C has grown its capacity to more than 1,000 tons of titanium powder per year. This large-scale production is performed in more than a dozen powder production lines at two manufacturing sites. The company continues to invest in its plasma atomisation technology, which allows new materials to be produced and ultimately reduces the cost of plasma atomised powders, while maintaining the high quality required by metal AM users in the aerospace industry.
Dupont added, “Our approach is to be more than just a supplier of metal powders to our customers. To scale metal Additive Manufacturing, acceleration can only be achieved by sharing knowledge best practice to lower risk and increase stability. One way we have supported Airbus in recent years, for example, has been to help its in-house Additive Manufacturing team establish its own methods and processes to qualify Ti6AI4V powders.”
