Hyperion enters partnership with EOS to develop low cost titanium powders
July 26, 2021
A350 titanium cable mount on the front spar of the vertical stabiliser made with an EOS AM machine (Courtesy EOS GmbH)
Hyperion Metals Limited, Belmont, North Carolina, USA, has announced the execution of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for a technology partnership with EOS GmbH, Krailling, Germany.
The partnership aims to accelerate the deployment of Hyperion’s hydrogen assisted metallothermic reduction (HAMR) and granulation sintering deoxygenation (GSD) technologies for the potential production of low cost, low-to-zero carbon titanium metal powders.
The companies will collaborate on the following: technical and economic evaluation of powders produced via HAMR and GSD processes for use in Additive Manufacturing as compared to the current titanium metal powders, recyclability of titanium metal powders using the HAMR and/or GSD technology processes and environmental and sustainability evaluation of powders produced via the HAMR and GSD processes for use in AM versus other production processes
“Our goal is to create innovative product and process solutions that help accelerate responsible manufacturing and sustainable solutions via industrial 3D printing technology,” stated Sascha Rudolph, Commercial Director Metal Materials at EOS. “What is exciting is the potential for new, low-cost, low-carbon titanium powders that will provide organisations with both significant economic benefits and more sustainable solutions. The HAMR and GSD technology has the potential to lower the barriers to entry for titanium into existing markets of more conventional materials and will enable completely new mass market applications where high strength to weight are critical, such as electric vehicles.”
“Titanium alloys are very widespread and versatile high-performance materials in AM, used by our customers in ingenious part designs covering everything from hip implants to Formula One parts to aircraft components,” Rudolph continued. “One barrier to wider adoption of AM is material cost – caused on one hand by the scarcity of the raw material, but on the other hand by the extremely complex and resource-intense methods of extraction. Our partnership with Hyperion changes this landscape and allows us to deliver cost- and resource-efficient next gen methods of extracting the value from this extremely valuable and scarce natural resource all the while reducing the negative impact on our environment. This collaboration means more to us than two technology companies joining forces to drive development of AM, it is also another great step on the journey of realising the EOS vision of sustainable manufacturing.”
Anastasios Arima, CEO and Managing Director of Hyperion Metals, commented, “Collaborating with EOS significantly advances our vision to bring sustainably sourced, low-cost and zero-carbon titanium metal powders to international metal markets. More than any other 3D printing company, EOS has a similar value and vision in bringing sustainable manufacturing to the world and having a sustainable metal supply chain is crucial to that vision. Their experience in the Additive Manufacturing materials world is unparalleled. They have more than twenty-five years of experience working with metal powders and have a dedicated facility in Finland, EOS Metal Materials, that is focused on the development, design and production of metal powders and processes.”
Arima continued, “Titanium is a superior metal for a wide range of high-performance applications in the aerospace, medical, space and defence sectors. Hyperion, through its HAMR and GSD technologies, has the potential to produce zero carbon spherical titanium powders at a fraction of the cost of comparable titanium powders. Hyperion’s technologies have the potential to disrupt not just the titanium market, but also the far larger aluminium and stainless-steel markets.”
