3D printing firms consolidate to develop metal powders

The additive manufacturing (AM) sector is consolidating as companies move to strengthen their metal powder offerings for the aerospace and medical industries.

Sweden-based Sandvik has acquired 100pc of integrated AM service provider Zare through its BeamIT subsidiary, which it acquired in July 2019. BeamIT supplies metal AM components to industries such as aerospace, automotive and energy.

The acquisition follows Sandvik's recent investment in AM post-processing company PRES-X, which performs high-pressure heat treatments on 3D printed parts.

Sandvik's metal powder plant in Sweden, which was opened in October 2019 to produce titanium- and nickel-based superalloys, has recently received certification to provide deliveries to the aerospace and medical industries, while the firm's powder production plant in Neath, UK, was recently awarded certification for aerospace.

"The AM sector is developing fast and there is a need for AM-specialist partners with the advanced skills and resources required to help industrial customers develop and launch their AM programmes," said Sandvik Additive Manufacturing president Kristian Egeberg.

German specialty chemicals group Altana has made two AM acquisitions, purchasing TLS Technik, a German manufacturer of metal powders and alloys for 3D printing, and UK-based Aluminium Materials Technologies (AMT), developer of a lightweight special alloy for 3D printing.

Altana's metal atomisation division, Eckart, will work with TLS and AMT to develop metal powders for 3D printing, with a focus on the aerospace industry. The use of 3D printing is changing the industrial value chain by making global supply chains more time and cost efficient, Altana said. The importance of 3D printing is growing with the economic challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the US, manufacturing investment firm Core Industrial Partners last month acquired GPI Prototype and Manufacturing Services, a 3D printing bureau with a focus on direct metal laser sintering technology through its subsidiary Fathom, an on-demand 3D printing service provider.

GPI produces metal parts with complex geometries for on-demand manufacturing using a variety of metals, including aluminium, stainless steel, tool steel, titanium, inconel (nickel-chromium alloy) and cobalt chrome. It supplies the aerospace, medical, industrial and automotive industries, as well as government agencies and universities. GPI is the third AM company Core Industrial Partners has acquired in the past two years.

Germany-based Rena Technologies has acquired post-processing technology firm Hirtenberger Engineered Surfaces (HES) to move into the AM sector. Rena provides manufacturing production machinery in the semiconductor, medical technology and renewable energy industries. Rena will incorporate surface finishing technology for 3D printed metal from HES to expand into international markets.

Further consolidation in the additive manufacturing sector is likely as the aerospace industry deals with the impact of the coronavirus. Airline orders have all but come to a halt. French aircraft manufacturer Airbus received 370 new orders in January-August — most of them before the height of the pandemic. That was on track for a sharp decline from the 1,131 orders it received in 2019. US aircraft manufacturer Boeing received 67 new orders in the first eight months of 2020, down from 145 in January-August 2019.

UK-based jet engine manufacturer Rolls-Royce reported that its engine deliveries fell by 50 per cent in the first half of the year and it does not expect volumes to return to 2019 levels until the middle of the decade.

By Nicole Willing