Norsk Titanium expands into the industrial application market in collaboration with Hittech Group
June 16, 2021
Norsk Titanium AS, headquartered in Oslo, Norway, has announced an expansion of its customer base into the industrial application market sector, following collaboration with the Hittech Group, based in Den Haag, the Netherlands. The production of the first industrial component in this partnership will support a Hittech customer in the growing semiconductor equipment market.
Norsk expects significant near-term investment by manufacturers in the semiconductor market as the company seeks to modernise its supply chains. The move is said to represent Norsk’s first step to support these modernisation efforts with a faster, more cost-efficient and environmentally friendly approach.
Using Norsk’s Rapid Plasma Deposition (RPD) process, a form of plasma-based Directed Energy Deposition (DED), Norsk engineers have designed a titanium alloy preform that will reduce Hittech’s raw material needs by over 45% as compared to legacy wrought product used to fabricate the end component currently. Leveraging the RPD industrial process enables Norsk to create a near-net-shape design while maintaining the required quality controls and material properties Hittech needs for this critical component.
Utilising nearly the full 90 cm x 60 cm build envelope of Norsk’s G4B machine, the resulting RPD form will weigh nearly 100 kg. Delivery of a first test piece is expected by year-end, with serial production planned to begin in 2022.
“We are delighted to collaborate with Hittech in the transition of the design of this component to RPD material,” stated Michael Canario, CEO of Norsk. “Hittech has been a strong supporter of our technology, and we are delighted to have reached this phase in our partnership. We look forward to exceeding their affordability targets with a more efficient and cost-effective method of manufacturing titanium.”
Marco Verloop, Hittech Division Director, commented, “This development marks a significant change in how industrial components will be manufactured with substantial savings in downstream processing time and cost in a sustainable fashion. We look forward to investigating how Norsk can further adapt their technology to this application.”
