As the recently granted U.S. patents presented here indicate, the additive manufacturing (AM) of aluminum and other light metals is evolving rapidly from what was just two decades ago mainly a prototyping process to a production process that involves automotive, aerospace, medical, and various domestic product industries. In my LMA article from February 2018 on AM […]
additive manufacturing
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Additive manufacturing of aluminum is a small but growing segment, with applications being utilized in niche sectors of the industrial and aerospace industries. In particular, manufacturers are interested in implementing 7000 series aluminum for additive manufacturing due to its high strength. These alloys have also been commonly used in cast, forged, or extruded components for […]
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Ford Motor Company and the ExOne Company have jointly developed a patent-pending process for rapid and reliable binder jet 3D printing and sintering of aluminum that delivers properties comparable to die casting. “This is a breakthrough in making 3D printed and sintered parts for the auto industry,” said Harold Sears, Ford technical leader for additive manufacturing. “While the […]
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NanoAL, LLC, located in Boston, MA, has commercialized its award-winning, additive manufacturing technology — Addalloy® 5T aluminum alloy powder. NanoAL is a subsidiary of Unity Aluminum (formerly Braidy Industries) and serves as its research and development division, developing new aluminum alloys. The Addalloy family of next-generation aluminum alloy powders are specifically formulated for additive manufacturing via […]
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Additive manufacturing is becoming increasingly important, with cheaper and more efficient processes making the production of metal powders and additively manufactured components more attractive. As a result, printed components are increasingly being used not only for prototyping, but also as serial products. Trimet Aluminium SE in Germany has been conducting intensive research and development on material […]
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AMAG Austria Metall AG is acquiring a 70% share of Aircraft Philipp Gruppe (ACP). Headquartered in Übersee/Chiemsee, Germany, ACP manufactures assembly-ready metal parts for the aviation and aerospace industry. “We are pleased to be integrating such a first-class company as ACP into the AMAG Group,” said Gerald Mayer, CEO of AMAG Austria Metall AG. “AMAG […]
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Poly-Shape, an AddUp company, signed a contract with Constellium to research and develop innovative components made from aluminum powder. The components will be additively manufactured from the Aheadd® powders recently developed by Constellium. “This is the result of the flexibility of our structures, our reactivity and the high quality of our teams, in particular the research […]
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Lightweighting has been and continues to be a major concern for the aerospace, automotive, and transportation industries. Whether it’s an airplane, automobile, boat, or train, the use of lightweight materials, such as aluminum, provide significant fuel savings and performance benefits. Like its competitors in the lightweighting arena (steel, composites, etc.), aluminum is working to continually […]
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Using its proprietary additive manufacturing technology, MELD Manufacturing Corporation has fabricated components in excess of 55 inches (1.4 m) in diameter using off-the-shelf aluminum 6061 — a milestone in the 3D-printing of large metal parts. The MELD technology is a solid-state process, in which the material does not reach the melting temperature. In this way, […]