The year-over-year U.S. inflation rate through February 2022 hit a 40-year high of 7.9%, eroding purchasing power especially for gas, food and rent.

Velo3D Inc., a provider of metal additive-manufacturing (AM) technology, delivered a 3D printer to Knust-Godwin, a precision contract manufacturer. The acquisition of a laser powder-bed fusion printer further expands Knust-Godwin’s AM offering by unlocking high-volume production and lower costs for its largest customers. The Sapphire XC will be installed in the company’s Katy, Texas facility, and is calibrated for Inconel 718. It is capable of producing prints that are 600 mm (23.5 inches) in diameter and 550 mm (21.5 inches) high, and it uses eight 1-kilowatt lasers to produce parts.

A partnership between the University of Northern Iowa, Youngstown State University and the National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining (NCDMM) will leverage $10 million in first-year funding to increase the number of small to midsize enterprises using advanced technologies, bolster critical areas of the defense manufacturing supply chain and create jobs. The partnership will provide hundreds of businesses each year with support to remove barriers to adopting Industry 4.0 technologies, enabling a faster output of quality parts while expanding and strengthening the supply chain. Those technologies include 3D printing, robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).

Linde is developing a dedicated laboratory to advance the understanding of the parameters and behavior of atmospheric gases used in the manufacture of metal powders. The lab, which is scheduled to become operational mid-2022, will enable Linde to develop new technologies to improve the atomization process – particularly increasing yield and process stability. The facility’s focal point will be a much smaller-scale version (5.25 feet high) of a typical atomizer. Linde will also collaborate with powder manufacturers and OEMs to help them test specific gas behaviors on the test bench, allowing them to then scale up the results on their large atomizers.

AM production enables the creation of parts not possible with traditional technologies through new design concepts, new materials and new applications. 

Airbus, Safran and Tikehau Ace Capital signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Eramet for the acquisition of its subsidiary Aubert & Duval. The three partners intend to acquire 100% of Aubert & Duval through a new joint holding company in which they would have equal ownership rights. Aubert & Duval is a supplier of critical parts and materials for the aerospace, defense and nuclear industries with a workforce of around 3,600 employees based mostly in France. The company supplies metal powders for additive manufacturing. Its Pearl Micro metal powders are used in electron-beam powder-bed fusion, directed energy deposition and metal binder jetting.

Here is a complete list of all the feature articles – by topic – that appeared in Industrial Heating in 2021. The month each article appeared in is included. All articles are hyperlinked for your convenience.

GE Aviation is acquiring five metal additive-manufacturing (AM) systems from GE Additive. The first four Concept Laser M Line systems will be installed at GE Aviation’s Additive Technology Center (ATC) in West Chester, Ohio, during 2022. A fifth M Line system will be installed at Avio Aero’s Turin site in Italy to support serial production of additive components for the GE Catalyst turboprop engine during 2022. Once installed at the GE Aviation ATC, two M Line systems will be dedicated to aluminum alloy. One each of the two other systems will be dedicated to cobalt chrome and nickel alloy 718, adding additional manufacturing capacity to GE Aviation’s additive infrastructure at its development facility.

Sciaky Inc., a subsidiary of Phillips Service Industries (PSI), will deliver what it says is the world’s largest electron-beam directed energy deposition (DED) 3D printer to Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI). The customized electron-beam additive-manufacturing (EBAM) system is going to TAI’s Ankara plant, where it will 3D print some of the largest titanium aerostructures in the industry. The machine’s work envelope stretches beyond 19.7 feet (6 meters) long x 6.5 Feet (2 meters) wide x 5.9 feet (1.8 meters) high. Deposition rates will exceed 20 kg of metal per hour for many metal alloys.

Sulzer opened a laser metal deposition (LMD) facility at its Houston Service Center in La Porte, Texas. The advanced additive-manufacturing process will provide multiple benefits for the company’s turbomachinery repair and upgrade projects. Sulzer’s HICoat Division will offer LMD services for a range of materials. According to Sulzer, LMD creates a metallurgical bond that ensures excellent bonding with parent materials and increased consistency of material density, which is ideal for challenging rotor or shaft repairs.