Airbus will receive titanium powders from AP&C for use in metal 3D printing.

Airbus has inked a new agreement with GE Additive’s AP&C division to supply Ti-6AI-4V titanium powders for use in metal additive manufacturing applications.

AP & C has partnered with airbus for the last couple of years,

and this new multi-year arrangement extends that collaboration.

Airbus has long used 3D printing technology to make a variety of aeroplane parts, using both polymer and metal additive manufacturing procedures.

Satiar provided certified metal 3D printed wingtip fence components as spare parts for an A320ceo aircraft in November 2020,

while the leading aviation firm placed a 3D printed titanium bracket on the A350 XWB aircraft in 2017.

Premium AEROTEC will employ GE Additive’s Concept Laser M2 equipment to manufacture titanium components for its A320 family of aircraft, according to a report released last year.
As 3D printed titanium applications become more popular,

Airbus sought to collaborate with AP&C, a market leader in the large-scale production of metal materials.

AP&C now has the potential to produce more than 1,000 tonnes of titanium powder

per year via a dozen powder production lines spread over two manufacturing facilities,

thanks to continued investment in plasma atomisation technology.

“The deployment of metal additive technology in aerospace continues to gain traction,”

said Alain Dupont, CEO of AP&C.

“Building a solid supply chain that can fulfil both the industry standard for conventionally and additively made parts, while also adding value,

is one of the problems of keeping up with that pace in a highly regulated business like aerospace.”

Our goal is to be more than just a metal powder supplier to our customers.

Acceleration of metal additive manufacturing can only be

done through exchanging knowledge and best practices.

Source: TCP, Aerospace manufacturing