Tungsten powder produced with 6K Additive's UniMelt technology
3D Systems has entered into an agreement with 6K Additive to supply powders for use on its metal 3D printers.
The agreement sees the company, which specialises in the sustainable production of materials for additive manufacturing, named as the preferred the supplier of tungsten powders for the 3D printing pioneer’s DMP machines.
Frank Roberts, president of 6K Additive said: “3D Systems has a proven, high-quality solution with their line of DMP printers. This agreement provides their customers with a high-quality material that will meet the demanding requirements for tungsten powder where high temperature and high strength properties are needed in applications such as medical, defence, hypersonic and other rocket parts.”
6K’s UniMelt plasma technology is said to enable a more sustainable method of production for metals for 3D printing, effectively allowing the recycling of virtually any scrap metal into material for AM. Materials offered by 6K currently include Ni718, Ni625, stainless steel 316/17-4, copper 18150, GRCOP, and refractory powders such as tungsten, tantalum, rhenium, niobium and molybdenum, and most recently, ultra-low oxygen titanium 64 with a parts per million (PPM) rate of 500-700.
With sustainability at its core, last year the company commissioned Foresight Management to conduct a lifecycle assessment of both their titanium and nickel powders. This study was conducted to quantify the environmental impacts associated with the production of printable metal powders and specifically compare atomisation technology methods to 6K Additive’s. It was found that for Ti64, 6K’s UniMelt process at minimum delivered a 74% energy reduction and 78% carbon emission reduction from traditional processes. The company also recently announced a collaboration with Fraunhofer ILT on another complete lifecycle assessment (LCA) into Ni78 powder produced by 6K Additive for an industrial component additively manufactured with laser powder bed fusion.
In 2022, 6K Additive also announced plans for growth, with the doubling of its powder manufacturing capacity with four new UniMelt microwave plasma systems, and commercial expansion into Europe.
