GE Additive’s AP&C, a manufacturer of metal powders used in 3D printing, announced that it has signed a contract with Airbus to supply titanium powders (Ti-6AI-4V) for additive manufacturing applications. A new, multi-year contract for the supply of materials deepens AP&C’s long-term cooperation with Airbus.
AP&C is a world leader in the production of plasma sprayed powders of titanium, aluminum and nickel. The company develops plasma atomization technology that enables the production of new materials and ultimately lowers costs, while maintaining the high quality required by additive metal fabrication users in the aerospace industry.
AP&C has increased its production capacity to over 1,000 tons of powdered titanium per year. This large-scale production takes place on several production lines in two plants.
“The adoption of metal additive technology in aviation continues to gain momentum. And one of the challenges of keeping up with this pace in a highly regulated industry such as aviation is building a solid supply chain that can meet both industry standards for conventionally and additive parts but also add value, “comments Alain Dupont, AP&C CEO.
“Our approach is to be more than just a supplier of metal powders to our customers. To scale up additive metal production, acceleration can only be achieved by sharing best knowledge to reduce risk and increase stability. One of the ways we have supported Airbus in recent years has been, for example, to help its in-house additive manufacturing team develop their own Ti-6AI-4V powder qualification methods and processes, ”added Dupont.
Source: GE Additive press materials