Constellium kicked off a new collaborative project with Nikon Advanced Manufacturing (Nikon AM) and a team of industry leaders. The aim of the project is to expand the use of its Aheadd® CP1 aluminum alloy for additive manufacturing in defense and aerospace applications.
“This project underscores the power of collaboration to drive meaningful innovation,” said Ludovic Piquier, senior vice president, Manufacturing Excellence and chief technology officer at Constellium. “Aheadd® CP1 continues to demonstrate its value in additive manufacturing, and we look forward to unlocking even greater potential in the aerospace and defense industries with our partners.”
The $2.1 million project is funded by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense’s Manufacturing Technology Office through America Makes’ National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Institute. Led by Nikon AM, the project includes collaboration between Constellium, ASTM International, and 3Degrees. In addition, the project will receive guidance from top defense contractors including Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, Honeywell Aerospace Technologies, and others.
Constellium’s Aheadd CP1 is a high-performance aluminum alloy designed specifically for additive manufacturing. The alloy’s strength, thermal conductivity, and excellent printability — allowing high-speed productivity and stability to avoid post-processing — make it ideal for demanding applications, such as heat exchangers and other mission-critical components. The project will generate key material property data through testing Aheadd CP1 on Nikon SLM Solutions’ laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) systems. Results will be shared via the Workbench for Additive Materials (WAM) database to support qualification and use by defense and aerospace manufacturers.
“Nikon AM is proud to lead this initiative,” said Behrang Poorganji, Ph.D., vice president, Technology, Nikon AM. “Additive manufacturing (AM) offers many opportunities for the aerospace and defense markets, and material selection is a key to AM success. We are excited to support the United States’ Defense Industrial Base with this groundbreaking project using Nikon SLM Solutions’ large-format, multi-laser NXG XII 600 series L-PBF systems.”