IperionX supplies Titanium for US Defense Contractor Lockheed Martin

The Australian company IperionX will make a delivery of titanium plates to the US defense contractor Lockheed Martin. Lockheed Martin will use the order to test material properties and performance of titanium from IperionX’s novel production.

“Reducing the cost of titanium components will mean broader use of this material to increase the performance of our products,” said Brian Rosenberger, Lockheed Martin senior fellow for Additive Manufacturing Processes and Materials. “With this order, Lockheed Martin will perform an initial evaluation of the material quality and mechanical performance of IperionX’s titanium plate material.”

The titanium plate components are manufactured using powder metallurgy production processes and IperionX’s advanced titanium angle powder. In addition, the patented Hydrogen Sintering and Phase Transformation (HSPT) technology is used to optimize the microstructure of titanium components, giving them strength and fatigue properties comparable to forged titanium alloys.

Titanium, known for its high strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance, is a key material for many U.S. defense systems. Lockheed Martin uses titanium alloys extensively for critical structures in air, land, sea and space products.

However, the U.S. has limited domestic primary production of titanium metal, resulting in over 95% of the titanium needed for the defense sector being imported. IperionX has plans to bring titanium metal production back to the U.S. and reduce dependence on imports.

While the common “Kroll process” for titanium production is energy intensive and environmentally harmful, IperionX promises a more energy efficient method with zero emissions.

Anastasios (Taso) Arima, IperionX CEO said: “This collaboration with Lockheed Martin is another important milestone towards the rapid commercialization of IperionX’s breakthrough low-carbon titanium technologies. These patented technologies can either use titanium minerals or titanium scrap metal as feedstock to manufacture high quality titanium products at significantly lower cost and carbon footprint than existing production processes.”