Puris, producer of titanium powder for additive manufacturing, has achieved a major milestone by successfully producing the largest, complex, 3D-printed titanium part for commercial use.
The part was printed using ExOne’s binder-jetting technology and was processed to 100 percent density. The part measures an estimated 19 x 19 x 11 inches (482.6 x 482.6 x 279.4 mm) with a cross-section thickness of 0.375 inch (9.5 mm) and weighs 31 lb (14 kg).
“There is a lot of activity in this arena and larger parts have been printed, but we believe this is the largest complex titanium part to be printed to date,” said Puris’ CEO Craig Kirsch.
“The milestone was achieved by the combination of our team’s deep metallurgical and powder-production expertise and ExOne binder-jetting technology. It is significant that the part was processed to full density and printed safely using affordable, available powder.”
Puris’ metallurgy team produced the part on the ExOne M-Print for a customer in the aerospace industry. Binder-Jetting technology allowed for the part to be printed at room temperature and therefore eliminated residual stress buildup, as well as the chemical-property and microstructure changes that occur in laser-based metal 3D printing technologies. These are critical aspects to commercial use of 3D printed parts.
“We are actively working on a number of development programs with other customers interested in bringing large, 3D-printed parts into the additive manufacturing mainstream. Size is currently constrained only by the printer box itself, which presents advancement opportunities for ExOne to develop larger direct-printing machines,” Kirsch added. The current ExOne M-Print print box is 32” x 20” x 16”.
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