New Cheap Titanium Powder for 3D Printing

[Eddie]

Looks, like there is yet another material making it's way into the 3D Printing arena. A company called Metalysis has found a way to produce cheap titanium powder. I wonder what other fields this new powder will be used in.

For the first time, low-cost titanium powders, developed by Metalysis, have been used to 3D print automotive parts. To date, the 3D printing 'revolution' has focused on the use of plastics - cheap printers' feedstock and high throughput. So far, 3D printing with metal has been prohibitively expensive because titanium powders currently sell for $200 - $400 per kilogram, until now. Metalysis has developed a new way of producing low-cost titanium powder, which heralds a new era in additive layer manufacture and will see greater use of titanium in components across the automotive, aerospace and defence industries

In a further development, the titanium powder used to manufacture the automotive parts is also a world-first, as Metalysis has created titanium from rutile sand, a naturally occurring titanium ore present in beach sands, in one single step. The use of this inexpensive and plentiful feedstock for titanium manufacture will dramatically reduce the cost of titanium production, allowing its increased use.

The Metalysis process is radically cheaper and environmentally benign compared with existing titanium production methods, such as the energy-intensive and toxic Kroll process. Currently, the manufacture of titanium powder involves taking the metal sponge produced by the Kroll process, which is then processed into ingot billets, melted into bar form and finally atomised into powder - a costly and labour-intensive four-step process. Metalysis takes rutile and transforms it directly into powdered titanium using electrolysis, which is cost-effective and thus essential to the supply chain; the low-cost titanium powder can be used in a variety of new applications whereas previously the metal has been excessively expensive for use in mass production of lower value items.



The Mercury Centre, which sits within the Department of Materials at Sheffield University, used Renishaw's 3D printer to make the parts, demonstrating the feasibility of producing titanium components using additive layer manufacturing. 3D printing brings further cost benefits by reducing waste because the current means of production is subtractive, as components are shaped out of metal billets, which wastes a huge amount of material. Metalysis' low-cost titanium powder enables additive manufacturing with its metal powder, thereby reducing the quantity of material required.

In addition to titanium, Metalysis is developing tantalum powder and will use its technology to produce a wide range of specialist metals (including rare earths). Furthermore, innovative alloys can be produced using Metalysis' technology because the process is conducted in the solid state, hence metals with significantly different densities or melting points can be alloyed. Metal powders created by the Metalysis process can be engineered to get particle size and distribution correct for a range of PM applications.

Entire article at: http://www.mhwmagazine.co.uk/LatestN...ts_-15310.html

[RedSox2013]

Pretty impressive... A New Company, Metalysis has released a titanium powder that can be used in a 3D Printer. The new technology reduces titanium prices by about 75% making it almost as cheap as some of the specialty steels out there. Here is a video of the powder:



More details:
http://3dprintingindustry.com/2013/1...er-first-kind/

[Larry]

It really seems like 2014 may be the year that Metal sintering printers begin to really come of age. Perhaps cheaper, more efficient metal printing is on the horizon.

[Markum_Debreeze]

I fully agree Larry. This titanium powder has a ton of potential. I just hope we see it come out sooner rather than later.