Sandvik metal powder.
Sandvik has announced its new Sandviken-based powder plant for titanium and nickel-based alloys has received AS9100D certification, a boost to the company’s additive manufacturing ambitions in the aerospace industry.
The new factory was inaugurated at the end of 2019 and is the result of a $25 million investment announced more than two years ago. It is on the same land as Sandvik’s dedicated additive manufacturing facility, which houses a number of metal 3D printing technologies and will allow the company to tailor materials to processes on the same site. Since the inauguration of the powder plant, which is also certified according to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001 certifications, Sandvik has carried out extensive work to fine-tune its processes and qualify powder to provide ‘the best possible consistency, morphology and quality’ for additive manufacturing.
It has led to the Sandvik's AS1900D certification for deliveries to the aerospace industry, a market the company has been dealing with for more than 30 years and a market it will now be able to increase its supply of metal additive manufacturing powders to.
“Sandvik is a world leader in metal powder for additive manufacturing with the widest alloy programme on the market,” commented Kristian Egeberg, President of Sandvik Additive Manufacturing. “Titanium powders represent the latest application of 158 years of materials knowledge and R&D – and more than 40 years in-house powder manufacturing capabilities. With the AS9100D certification together with all our experts in materials, metal powder and additive manufacturing, we can now help our customers succeed even faster in this high-growth area.”
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Sandvik and its customers are looking to accelerate the application of additive manufacturing technologies in the aerospace sector as part of a sustainability drive. Using less material to build parts, significant weight savings can be achieved as exampled in Sandvik’s Lightweight CoroMill 390 cutting tool, where an 80% reduction in weight helped to minimise vibrations and improve productivity.
In order to help its aerospace partners take advantage of these kinds of gains, Sandvik has set up its new state-of-the-art powder plant which encompasses all steps of the powder production cycle, ‘from titanium sponge to finished powder’. With the full supply chain in-house, Sandvik can provide increased traceability to ensure the quality of product is sufficient. The facility also uses advanced electrode inert gas atomisation technology to keep down oxygen and nitrogen levels, while several industrial robots support the production process and help to reduce user error.
Sandvik’s Lightweight CoroMill 390 cutting tool.
Sandvik’s Lightweight CoroMill 390 cutting tool.
So far, Sandvik has produced two titanium powders at the new plant, Osprey Ti-6AI-4V Grade 5 and Osprey Ti-6AI-4V Grade 23, and two nickel-based superalloys, Osprey Alloy 625 and Osprey Alloy 718, with others available on request.
“In additive manufacturing, it is essential to use high quality metal powders with consistent quality, adapted to the different additive manufacturing processes. Our highly automated process ensures excellent consistency and the powders demonstrate optimal particle size distribution,” added Keith Murray, VP Global Sales, Sandvik Additive Manufacturing. “Having atomised fine metal powders for more than 40 years and supplying titanium to the aerospace industry since the 1980s, Sandvik is no stranger to powder atomisation or the requirements of the most demanding industries.
“Now, we are one of the few companies that has the new and prestigious AS9100D quality certification for our Osprey titanium powder and nickel-based superalloys for additive manufacturing. It is a true milestone, which will facilitate many customer collaborations going forward.”
