US aerospace company adds six more MetalFAB1 systems
August 27, 2019
Additive Industries North America, Inc., based in Camarillo, California, USA, has reported that its largest aerospace customer, located in California, has purchased a further six MetalFAB1 systems from the company, to add to the four it has previously invested in.
According to Additive Industries North America, the prestigious aerospace customer was able to consolidate approximately 700 kg of powder in June with the four MetalFAB1 systems currently in operation. The company states that the application represents an inflection point in Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) part production where candidate parts were typically limited to fist size volumes to meet ROI calculations.
With the MetalFAB1 systems this customer is reportedly able to cost effectively produce over 420 mm diameter x 400 mm tall parts weighing a 180 kg. The six metal Additive Manufacturing systems are expected to be installed at the customer’s facility later this year, bringing the total number of operational MetalFAB1 machines to ten with more reportedly possible in 2020.
“This part is likely the largest, most complex L-PBF part ever produced in series production. We are proud of our multi-disciplinary team that worked with this customer to make this production a reality as well as the capabilities of our MetalFAB1 systems to print for days back to back,” stated Shane Collins, General Manager for Additive Industries North America, Inc.
“This order will bring the North America MetalFAB1 installed base to seventeen systems which has been achieved since the first machine was installed late in 2017. Considering each system has four, 500 W lasers, the powder consolidation capabilities would equal roughly 68 single laser systems.”
Daan Kersten, CEO of Additive Industries, commented, “The fast growth in North America is partly due to our focus on the aerospace sector and the aeronautics adoption curve for production Additive Manufacturing. We expect this growth to further accelerate when our customers publicly release their applications and more companies are able to visualise the large, complex parts that can be manufactured on the MetalFAB1 system in titanium, aluminium, steel and nickel based alloys.”
