Sort of a like a camper’s grainy footage of Bigfoot sauntering between trees in a forest, a Cambridge University spin-out company, Metalysis, has put out a video demonstrating the 3D printing of low-cost titanium powder, as part of a University of Sheffield project:
The partnership between the University of Sheffield’s Mercury Centre and Metalysis has yielded what may be the first 3D printed titanium car part. The Director of Mercury Centre, Prof. Iain Todd, explains that Metalysis’ low-cost powder is produced in such a way that bypasses the traditional, costly and labour-intensive process of making titanium: “Normally what happens with titanium powder is you take what they call mill grade titanium, which is something that’s been three times melted and turned into a block and then rolled. Then it’s turned and you remove the material you don’t need and are left with a billet of titanium that is re-melted and turned into a powder.” Instead, Metalysis applies electrolysis to the titanium ore rutile found in beach sand, separating its elements and producing titanium powder.
The Mercury Centre, Sheffield’s large 3D printing lab, was then able to use the material to 3D print automobile parts, as well as guide vanes, airfoil components, and impellers for airplanes, relying on their discontinued Renishaw AM125 machine. Because Metalysis’ powder is much cheaper than the traditional process, it is a more affordable option for 3D printing metal parts than currently on the market. Though Prof. Todd told TCT that it’s not ready for the aerospace industry yet, it could be suitable for the low-cost manufacture of temperature and corrosion resistant parts.
CEO of Metalysis, Dion Vaughan, explained just how economical their product could be: “The Metalysis process could reduce the price of titanium by as much as 75 per cent, making titanium almost as cheap as specialty steels. We believe that titanium made by the Metalysis process could replace the current use of aluminium and steel in many products. This world-first for a titanium 3D printed component brings us a step closer to making this a reality.”
The firm is also expanding into other materials, currently developing a tantalum powder and looking into rare Earth metals, according to the University of Sheffield blog. Metalysis has also explained that they can create unique alloys using their process, engineering metal powders with specific particle sizes and distributions. Looks like we’ll have to keep an eye on them and the Mercury Centre to see what else it comes up with in the new year.
“The Metalysis process could reduce the price of titanium by as much as 75 per cent, making titanium almost as cheap as speciality steels.”
Wow!
Before you get too Wowy (is that a word?) though bear in mind no matter how “cheap” the materials the process is inherently costly. I honestly don’t think material cost really comes into the cost equation with metal AM parts – more the benefits of the actual process to achieve specific geometry/weight savings.
This is certainly the trend in very high end aerospace and automotive applications where the performance benefits outweigh everything else. In practical terms it might mean titanium parts are more readily available as the powder costs are on a par with other materials.
I’m holding onto my dreams of home 3D printed advanced metals 😉
Well, there are a couple of things here. Speaking as a materials scientist, sintered alloys have properties that only this specific (laser sintering, or e-beam sintering) gives. Lowering the cost of titanium would hit a nerve with the older engineers, who were familiar with trying to obtain supplies decades earlier. Costs were, to understate, outrageous. Controlling particle size is especially interesting, which powdered materials excels at. Yes, the process is still expensive, in as much as it takes time to produce a single part. However, those parts can be parts that are otherwise impossible to make by other means, including lightweight hollow structures. The machinery to produce them takes up far less space and is less costly (I have all kinds of gear just to make investment castings, and it takes up most of 600 square feet). Plus the safety gear, casting rework, etc. The powder printer I can see just sitting in the corner of my office.
Price/performance is always an issue in engineering, and aerospace parts demand a zero defect, zero failure rate. Testing, as always, will give us the parameters we need to operate the machinery.
I think the comparison here is machined titanium rather than cast. That is certainly the direct comparison for aerospace and high end automotive. The only practical application for 3 D printed parts is to create parts that cannot be machined. Regardless of this though, unless aerospace and automotive engineers can accurately simulate component performance through FEA the process will simply be ignored.in these markets simulation is critical.
Clever lot these Sheffield people. They have a seriously good bunch of boffins in their Mercury center. Sorry to say Shane but this doesn’t quite bring home metal 3D printing any closer. When (not if) it happens it won’t be on a powder bed laser melting system as was used here. It would be interesting to know how repeatable the mechanical properties are for materials produced in this way. This is a significant part of the barrier for aerospace and automotive adoption of 3D printed metal parts in these industries. The aerospace industry is quite rightly very fussy on ensuring that parts act as required on the spec sheet every single time. Something that I for one am glad of every time I get on a plane.
I have to agree with young Kevin when he says that the process itself is inherrently costly and material costs are only one part of this.
Jez Pullin