This article discusses how sintering parameters, especially the atmosphere, can be optimized on vacuum furnaces to obtain the best-possible quality from sintered stainless steel parts.

The Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center Research & Development (OMIC R&D) selected a hot isostatic press (HIP) from Quintus Technologies to be a flagship piece of equipment when the research facility opens. The HIP will allow new research into 3D-printing technology and optimized material properties. The press model is equipped with uniform rapid cooling (URC), the proprietary Quintus technology that combines HIP and heat treatment in a single process. Accelerated cooling under pressure minimizes thermal distortion and improves material properties.

Aerojet Rocketdyne finished a major expansion of its Los Angeles facility to support production of new-generation RS-25 main engines for NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS), which will send astronauts to the Moon as early as 2024. The $59 million expansion includes renovations to existing buildings, the addition of additive-manufacturing (3D-printing) capabilities and new testing and storage facilities. New equipment includes a horizontal vacuum furnace for brazing exotic engine materials, four selective laser melting machines for additive manufacturing and nondestructive inspection equipment.

ASM International and AGMA are committed to holding the 31^st Heat Treating Society Conference and Exposition (Heat Treat 2021) and the Motion + Power Technology Expo September 14-16 in St. Louis, Mo., and will not be canceling the events. Members want a platform to conduct business face‐to‐face, and it is our job to support that with our conferences and trade shows. The top priority remains the health and safety of all those who support the event on‐site. We have protocols in place and are working with America's Center Convention Complex, the city of St. Louis and our vendor partners to provide a safe environment for a successful in‐person event.

The Höganäs high-alloy facility in North America expanded operations with the completed construction of its fine powder atomization building in Johnstown, Pa. The 24,000-square-foot facility extends production capabilities to produce cost-effective solutions within the additive-manufacturing (AM), metal injection molding (MIM) and surface-coating markets, which is part of the company’s long-term strategy to further grow its high-alloy business.

Centorr Vacuum Industries, to satisfy multiple orders, is currently building two furnaces designed for the metal 3D-printing and metal injection molding (MIM) industries. Sintervac AM is designed for debinding and sintering. It is outfitted with a graphite hot zone and operates in vacuum, partial pressure or positive pressure of forming gas. It also has a dual trapping system to handle the process off-gassing from binder-jet 3D-manufactured parts. MIM-Vac, which has multi-zone temperature control for improved processing uniformity, has the ability to handle virtually any metal feedstock.

Desktop Metal Inc. and ExOne Company entered into a definitive agreement pursuant to which Desktop Metal will acquire all of the issued and outstanding shares of ExOne common stock. The transaction is valued at approximately $575 million. A pioneer in binder-jet 3D-printing technology, ExOne manufactures metal 3D-printing systems. The North Huntingdon, Pa.-based company also provides specialized 3D-printing services, including on-demand production of mission-critical parts, engineering and design consulting. Based in Burlington, Mass., Desktop Metal designs and manufactures a range of metal 3D-printing systems. The company offers an expansive portfolio of 3D-printing solutions, from rapid prototyping to mass production.

Many components and assemblies have internal features that are difficult to inspect, none more so than additively manufactured (AM) parts. Conventional quality control requires samples to be sectioned and subsequently scrapped. However, the advent in the 1980s of X-ray computed tomography (CT) for industrial material analysis and nondestructive testing heralded a new era for inspection of such parts, both internally and externally.

Burloak Technologies Inc., a division of Samuel, Son & Co. Ltd., established an additive-manufacturing center in Camarillo, Calif. With the addition of this facility, the company becomes North America’s first multi-site AM services provider. The new 25,000-square-foot facility bolsters the manufacturing capacity available at Burloak’s 65,000-square-foot Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence in Oakville, Ontario. Between the two facilities, the company offers laser powder-bed fusion, electron-beam powder bed, metal binder jet, and powder and wire DED technologies. In addition, Burloak offers post-production services including design, engineering, CNC machining, heat treatment and finishing.

Desktop Metal acquired Aerosint, a provider of multi-material deposition systems for powder-based additive manufacturing (AM). Based in Belgium, Aerosint offers a powder deposition system based on a proprietary digital process that selectively deposits two or more powders to form a single, thin powder layer containing multiple materials. The company’s patented selective powder deposition technology enables full three-dimensional control of material placement during printing. It can be integrated into any powder-bed AM process, such as laser powder-bed fusion, binder jetting, high-speed sintering or selective laser sintering. This multi-material approach to powder deposition is designed to support high-speed printing of a broad range of metals, polymers and ceramics.