Desktop Metal qualifies commercially pure copper for AM; Alloyed and Aubert & Duval renew exclusive license agreement; Essentium adding metal AM capabilities for industrial-scale production.

On-demand digital manufacturing services provider Fathom Digital Manufacturing Co. is partnering with Evolve Additive Solutions to commercialize the latter’s Selective Thermoplastic Electrophotographic Process (STEP) in North America. Developed for speed and scale, STEP enables the production of thermoplastic parts within hours or days, a time advantage compared to typical multi-month lead time for traditional injection molding tools and parts. STEP additive manufacturing (AM) technology reduces carbon footprint by eliminating the need for tooling and reduces warehousing and transportation logistics. https://fathommfg.com; https://www.evolveadditive.com

Desktop Metal qualified commercially pure copper for additive manufacturing (AM) on the Production System platform, using Single Pass Jetting (SPJ) technology for faster build speeds in metal AM. Customers can leverage SPJ technology to produce high-performance copper parts at scale.

With thermal and electrical conductivity, commercially pure copper is an ideal material for applications requiring heat or electricity transfer, such as cold plates, pucks and manifolds, heat sinks, heat exchangers, and bus bars used in power-intensive electrical applications.

Manufacturers can print copper parts on the Production System with geometric complexity in a single step instead of brazing multiple conventionally produced copper components, eliminating a time-intensive and expensive process prone to error and waste. With the geometric freedom enabled by binder jetting, engineers can explore new, high-performance designs not possible with conventional manufacturing methods, such as the lattice structures and conformal cooling channels to improve heat transfer. https://www.desktopmetal.com

Alloyed and Aubert & Duval extended their exclusive licensing agreement for Alloyed’s nickel alloy ABD-900AM for two years. Aubert & Duval has seen overwhelming interest in the ABD-900AM alloy from the aerospace, energy, and automotive sectors. The extended agreement allows Aubert & Duval to continue production and distribution of the ABD-900AM nickel-based powder alloy for additive manufacturing (AM) applications that require higher strength and higher temperatures.

The demand for the ABD-900AM alloy is attributed to being specifically designed for the AM process. It can be printed crack-free with a wide processing window and exhibits high strength up to 900°C/1,650°F; a significant performance benefit compared with conventional comparative alloys, where there’s often a trade-off between strength and printability. https://alloyed.com; https://www.aubertduval.com

Essentium Inc. is developing a new metal additive manufacturing (AM) platform that will be integrated with the Essentium High Speed Extrusion (HSE) technology to produce high-quality metal parts with new metal materials, unlocking increased speed, economic, and innovation advantages.

The effort, led by the EssentiumX team, is designed to disrupt current metal AM approaches. The technology, supported by five patents to date with three additional patents pending, is expected to provide energy-efficient deposition, decrease porosity, and minimize warpage during a build. It’ll produce parts comparable to castings and forgings with minimal post-processing. https://www.essentium.com