There is a growing interest in additively manufactured pure tungsten, primarily propelled by the expected demand for tungsten components in future fusion power plants. Here, Additive Manufacturing veterans and PBF-EB enthusiasts, Ulf Ackelid and Ulric Ljungblad – both of Sweden’s Freemelt AB – provide insights into the AM of tungsten and the benefits of using an electron beam as the energy source. This article is a standalone continuation of previous PBF-EB articles in Metal AM, published in the Summer 2020, Autumn 2022, and Summer 2023 issues
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AM is at a pivotal stage, evolving from a prototyping tool to a scalable manufacturing solution. This transition necessitates real-time, process-specific inspection to ensure consistent part quality. Phase3D is meeting this need with real-time inspection solutions specifically for powder-bed processes. Its technology enables manufacturers to inspect each layer during production, enhancing product development, optimising parameters, and improving process control for end-use production. Here, Niall O’Dowd and Noah Mostow dive into the specific applications of the company’s Fringe Inspection technology.
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With seven structural titanium parts flying on every Boeing 787 Dreamliner, a Master Supply Agreement with Airbus for the A350, and projects with the likes of Northrop Grumman and General Atomics, Norsk Titanium is setting the pace when it comes to the production of airframe components by Additive Manufacturing. By using wire instead of powder and its own proprietary version of the Directed Energy Deposition (DED) process, the company combines high deposition rates with aerospace-grade materials properties. Martin McMahon visited the company on behalf of Metal AM magazine.
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In the race to improve the productivity of PBF-LB Additive Manufacturing, machine OEMs have generally taken the path of adding more lasers. nLIGHT takes the view that it’s not necessarily just more lasers that are needed, but beam-shaping lasers. By using dynamic beam shaping technology, significant increases in the productivity, stability and metallurgical capabilities of PBF-LB have been demonstrated. Given the technology’s recent commercial success, with adoption by Aconity3D, AMCM, EOS and DMG Mori, we asked the nLIGHT team to review beam shaping technology and its potential impact on the AM industry.
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For many decades, North America’s Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) has organised its PM Design Excellence Awards competition in order to showcase the capabilities of the Powder Metallurgy industry. With the growing commercial success of metal powder-based Additive Manufacturing, the competition is seeing an ever larger number of entrants from this sector. Award-winning parts in this year’s competition include parts not only produced by Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion, but also a wide range of innovative sinter-based AM processes.
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The very existence of BMW Group’s state-of-the-art Additive Manufacturing Campus, located close to Munich, speaks volumes about the potential of AM technology in the automotive industry. In April, Metal AM magazine’s Technical Consultant, Martin McMahon, and Managing Editor, Nick Williams, had the opportunity to visit the campus. As is revealed here, they discovered an operation that not only functions as an application development centre and centralised location for the BMW Group’s AM expertise, but also operates as a model AM factory built around the concepts of productivity and automation.
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UK-based Wayland Additive is convinced that, when it comes to metal Additive Manufacturing, Electron Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-EB) has a bright future ahead. Whilst laser-based PBF is the most widely commercialised AM technology, it has inherent limitations that electron beam-based innovations such as Wayland’s NeuBeam process promise to overcome. Rachel Park reports on how the technology could open up the AM market by enabling users of the Calibur3 machine to rapidly develop and commercialise a wider range of industrial materials.
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Binder Jetting’s position as an accepted mass production technology for precision metal components is on the near horizon. The coming success will, however, rely as much on expertise in the sintering process as it does on expertise in jetting binder onto a powder bed to make ‘green’ parts. This article reports on how GKN Powder Metallurgy’s Additive Manufacturing division, GKN Additive, has leveraged decades of sintering expertise in high-capacity continuous furnaces, combined with its application development expertise, to deliver the series production of special filters by Binder Jetting for Schneider Electric.
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General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI) is the world leader in the design and manufacture of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). The company is no stranger to AM, with its Additive Design and Manufacturing Center of Excellence being integral to the qualification of more than 300 AM flight components and the installation of more than 10,000 AM parts on its aircraft. Now, it is working to identify and partner with some of the most innovative players in the industry in order to further leverage the capabilities of the technology. Divergent Technologies, the company behind Czinger Vehicles, is one such company. Jeff Kerns reports for Metal AM magazine.
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Kennametal is a particularly interesting company when it comes to the adoption of Additive Manufacturing. It is a dynamic global producer of tooling and industrial materials with sales of $2 billion in 2022, yet its roots are very much in ‘old school’ sinter-based PM processes. It is, therefore, no surprise that the company was an early adopter of AM, leveraging its materials and sintering expertise, as well as its broad customer base, to develop a leading position in the AM of hardmetals and steels. Bernard North, who fortuitously happens to be a past VP Industrial Technology at Kennametal, visited the company’s AM operation and reports for Metal AM magazine.
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Thanks to a new generation of compact metal Additive Manufacturing machines optimised for dental laboratories, combined with software improvements and optimised workflows, AM technology is now being more widely implemented in medium- to large-sized dental laboratories. In this article, Stijn Hanssen, Director, Dental Applications & Business Development, 3D Systems, reports on the application of metal AM technology for digital dentistry, reducing labour costs, maximising productivity and providing faster outcomes for patients.
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So much is discovered when it just all goes wrong. From a ‘design-fail-fix’ perspective, it’s expected that developmental components may be pushed to destruction. With rocket engines that operate near the limits of their performance, however, the need to understand the causes of a failure is critical. In the competitive commercial space business there’s a clear advantage not to disclose knowledge gained from such incidents. Thankfully, NASA can share what others cannot. Here, Alison Park, Deputy Technical Fellow, Materials and Additive Manufacturing, and Paul Gradl, Principal Engineer, share insights into one failure.
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