Elementum/ YouTube
Elementum
Elementum 3D has been granted patents in the United States, Canada and Australia for its Reactive Additive Manufacturing (RAM) technology, which enables the printing of previously unprintable materials according to the company.
RAM technology is said to underpin all of the additive manufacturing metal materials that Elementum is bringing to market, from its aluminium grades to copper to tantalum. By delivering materials that have previously not been processable on metal additive manufacturing platforms, Elementum believes it will facilitate the development of new applications in industries like aerospace, automotive and defence.
Among the aluminium grades it has developed via its RAM technology are aluminium 1000, 2024, 6061, 7050 and 7075 (branded A1000-RAM2, A2024-RAM2 and so on), all of which have been based on wrought alloys regularly used in the aforementioned industries. While printing these materials would typically churn out parts with poor mechanical properties, due to solidification cracking, RAM is said to form sub-micron inoculants in the melt pool that nucleate aluminium grains to provide a fine equiaxed microstructure. This gives the material good printability and ‘exceptional’ performance, per Elementum.
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Elementum
An unmodified “standard” 6061 aluminium alloy after printing and polishing. The left-hand micrograph shows a low magnification image of the polished and unetched growth plane with the large grain structure and the network of intergranular cracking clearly visible. The right-hand image shows a higher magnification micrograph of the same material etched with weck’s reagent showing the cracking network.
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Elementum
The Elementum 3D A6061-RAM2 printed material is shown with the left-hand image showing a crack-free microstructure with a dispersion of nucleating and reinforcing particulates. The right-hand image shows a higher magnification view of the same material etched by weck’s reagent revealing the fine equiaxed aluminium grain structure that gives the A6061-RAM2 material its 'exceptional' printability and properties.
“Our revolutionary technology advances metals development for additive manufacturing at an unprecedented pace,” commented Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein, President and founder of Elementum 3D. “It gives engineers the extra degree of freedom they have never experienced, inspiring them to bring into existence new and innovative applications.”
Elementum 3D will also work with its customers to develop custom materials tailored to their applications, to underline the extra freedom Nuechterlein references, and help customers to achieve increased strength, durability and performance, while reducing the weight and cost of their additively manufactured parts.
Last month, the company secured the ISO 9001:2015 quality management certification, while also receiving investment from Sumitomo Corporation of Americas through its Series A funding round and seeing its A6061-RAM2 and A2024-RAM2 materials approved for use in 2021 season of Formula 1.
