3D Printer Sciaky, Inc., a supplier of industrial metal 3D printing solutions, has announced that its Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing technology deposited over 12,000 5,443 kg of titanium in 2020. Despite the global COVID-19 pandemic, Sciaky’s high deposition rate metal 3D printing solution surpassed previous titanium deposition calendar year marks.
The vast majority of deposition ties to the production of 3D-printed titanium parts for field-certified aerospace and defense applications, as well as a wide range of 3D-printed titanium prototypes for research and development (R&D) applications. Details of these projects are not available to the public because they are protected by nondisclosure agreements (NDAs).
Sciaky’s Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) metal 3D printing solution is a wire-based directed energy deposition (DED) process. Wire feedstock is available in titanium, tantalum, tungsten, Inconel, niobium, nickel-copper/copper-nickel, aluminum, molybdenum, zircalloy, and stainless steel. In many cases, wire feedstock is 50 % cheaper (or more) than powder feedstock. In addition, wire feedstock is safer and easier to store than powder feedstock (the powder used in titanium is known to be highly flammable). Details can be found here.
As the most widely scalable metal additive manufacturing solution in the industry (in terms of work envelope), Sciaky’s EBAM systems can produce parts ranging from 8 inches (203 mm) to 19 feet (5.79 meters) in length. EBAM is also the fastest solution in the metal additive manufacturing market, with gross deposition rates up to 11.34 kg (25 lbs) of metal per hour. EBAM brings quality and control together with IRISS – the Interlayer Real-time Imaging and Sensing System, which is the only real-time adaptive control system in the metal 3D printing market that can sense and digitally self-adjust metal deposition with precision and repeatability. This closed-loop control is the primary reason that Sciaky’s EBAM 3D printing process delivers consistent part geometry, mechanical properties, microstructure, and metal chemistry, from the first part to the last.
