Sciaky, a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries and a provider of metal additive manufacturing solutions, announced today that its Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing (EBAM) process deposited 40 lbs. (18.14 kg) of titanium per hour, which it said makes it the highest – and fastest – deposition rate in the world for industrial metal 3D printing.
The Saint Exupéry Institute for Research in Technology (IRT), located in France, achieved EBAM’s high deposition rate (HDR) while conducting work for its Metallic Advanced Materials for Aeronautics (MAMA) project. Launched in 2019, one of MAMA’s initial goals was combining die forging with metal 3D printing to develop a new process for manufacturing titanium aircraft parts. To date, Sciaky’s EBAM has deposited more than 330 lbs. (150 kg) of Ti-6AI-4V (titanium) for three different MAMA applications. Additional projects are planned for 2022 and beyond, with support to adopt these new processes into production. Airbus and Aubert & Duval are also key process contributors for this particular initiative of the MAMA project.
“Sciaky is excited about EBAM’s new deposition rate milestone,” said Scott Phillips, President and CEO of Sciaky. “We are committed to discovering new applications for EBAM that will help manufacturers save significant time and money on part production, as well as improve part quality.”
Sciaky’s EBAM systems can produce parts up to 19 feet (5.79 meters) in length. EBAM brings quality and control together with IRISS – the Interlayer Real-time Imaging and Sensing System, a real-time adaptive control system 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.