Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies adds Quintus Hot Isostatic Press to its Additive Manufacturing facility
November 12, 2018
The QIH48 URC installed at BLT’s metal Additive Manufacturing facility in Xi’an, China (Courtesy Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies Co., Ltd.)
Metal Additive Manufacturing service provider Xi’an Bright Laser Technologies Co., Ltd. (BLT) has installed a Hot Isostatic Press (HIP) from Quintus Technologies, Västerås, Sweden, at its Additive Manufacturing facility in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. BLT operates just under one-hundred systems for laser-based Additive Manufacturing and repair out of its 40,000 m2 facility, and is capable of additively manufacturing parts in more than fifty materials, including titanium and aluminium alloys, superalloys, and stainless, die and high-strength steels.
Quintus’s model QIH48 URC® press is equipped with the company’s patented Uniform Rapid Cooling, which combines traditional HIP with heat treatment in a single system. The integrated materials densification process, known as High Pressure Heat Treatment, is said to produce parts with improved fatigue and ductile properties to satisfy critical performance requirements in industries ranging from aerospace and automotive to medical and energy.
“We chose to work with Quintus Technologies because the company has more than fifty years of history in the application of high pressure in sheet metal forming and advanced material densification,” stated Dr Xue Lei, General Manager, BLT. Quintus specialises in the design, manufacture, installation and support of high pressure systems for sheet metal forming and the densification of advanced materials and critical industrial components. The company is represented in thirty-five countries worldwide and has delivered more than 1,800 systems to customers across the globe within industries including aerospace, automotive, energy, and medical implants.
The Quintus HIP system at BLT features a hot work zone of 375 mm (14.8 in) and 1200 mm (47.2 in) in height; an operating temperature of 1400°C (2552°F); and pressure of 30,000 psi (2070 bar). “The QIH 48 URC offers several time-saving and quality advantages,” added Dr Xue Lei. “The streamlined High Pressure Heat Treatment process enables us to serve our customers with shorter lead times. The press’s programmable temperature distribution and high precision can avoid thermal stress deformation caused by temperature change and prevent cracking. In addition, there is no need to clean or dry parts after cooling.”
“We are very pleased to be working with a company that has such expertise in Additive Manufacturing in China,” commented Jan Söderström, CEO of Quintus Technologies. “Our collaboration brings together two leaders that are committed to advancing technology development and product innovation in the AM field.”
