Back in July we announced that Zecotek had been working in advanced metal alloy powders, but few details were revealed. Today we learned that these powders, which use metal hydrides synthesis, promise to open up new applications for the technology, and industries which use it.
“Our new and unique manufacturing technology for metal powders is a significant attachment in the advancement of 3D printing,” said Dr. A.F. Zerrouk, the Chairman, President, and CEO of Zecotek Photonics Inc. “The quest for cheap and available powders of refractory metals has been long and hard, and the 3D industry will value our solution.”
Zecotek says metal powder manufacturing has traditionally required a long series of steps to prepare hydrides for use in printing. Processes like asinitial activation of metal, the deep cleaning of hydrogen and expensive fine metal powders under hydrogenation were all required, and the metal powder developed by Zecotek will not only be compatible with the Zecotek line of 3D printers, but with those of other manufacturers as well.
“Laser sintering-based 3D printing is undoubtedly the technology of the future,” Zerrouk says. “The development of a new generation of hydrogen-containing materials, including those based on refractory metals, nano-modified alloys and certain inter-metallides groups, is key for additive 3D printing technologies.”
LT-PYRKAL assembled and tested the first in the line of compact, high-speed 3D printers for Zekotec, which use high-performance metal alloys like those mentioned above, and both companies say the new printers and materials will be used in electronics, aerospace, automotive, mechanical and healthcare applications. They expect and initial prototype of the high speed printers will be available in Q3 of 2015.
Do you think this powder innovation will have a major impact on the manufacturing industry? Let us know in the Zecotek metal printing forum thread on 3DPB.com.