ExOne’s Adoption Center has delivered two million metal AM parts
June 16, 2021
The ExOne Company, North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania, USA, has reported the company’s metal Additive Manufacturing Adoption Center has delivered over two million metal parts to its global customers and has added two X1 25Pro metal AM machines for the dedicated production of stainless steel parts.
Located outside of Pittsburgh, ExOne’s newly-renovated Adoption Center produces parts on more than two dozen metal AM machines for industrial customers and on-demand manufacturing service bureaus such as Shapeways, Sculpteo, Xometry, and more. The centre’s mission is to allow customers to try metal Binder Jetting (BJT) Additive Manufacturing for their designs before making a machine purchase.
ExOne has qualified more than twenty metal, ceramic, and composite materials for its Binder Jetting process. More than half of those materials are single-alloy metals, such as 17-4PH, 316L, 304L, M2 tool steel, Inconel 718, and more. Most recently, ExOne announced that 6061 aluminium is now a customer-qualified material, and titanium is now fast-tracked for qualification in partnership with a global medical device firm.
The company’s most popular material continues to be X1 Metal 420i – a metal matrix composite made up of 60% 420 stainless steel that is 40% infiltrated with bronze, said to be one of the earliest metals ever processed on ExOne machines. This material is durable and corrosion resistant, suitable for industrial and tooling applications, as well as being a material option for consumer goods, such as jewellery.
Two new X1 25Pro machines have been installed in the centre; these are designed for high-volume production and have build areas of 400 mm x 250 mm x 250 mm, enabling it to additively manufacture a wide range of part sizes. Currently, the X1 25Pros are being used for the dedicated production of 316L and 17-4PH stainless steel parts.