Companies specializing in one of the fastest growing metal-forming technologies, metal additive manufacturing (AM), have formed the Association for Metal Additive Manufacturing (AMAM). Housed underneath the Metal Powder Industries Federation, the world’s leading trade organization serving the interests of the metal powder producing and consuming industries, AMAM is composed of companies that wish to lead the direction of the metal AM industry.
Registration has opened for MIM2018: International Conference on Injection Molding of Metals, Ceramics and Carbides—the only international powder and metal injection molding conference of the year. To be held March 5–7, 2018, MIM2018 is a global conference and tabletop exhibition that highlights advances in the powder injection molding (PIM) industry. The conference will take place in Irvine, California, at the Hotel Irvine.
Two Manufacturing USA institutes, The Institute for Advanced Composites Manufacturing Innovation (IACMI) and Lightweight Innovations for Tomorrow (LIFT) unveiled a new facility in Detroit, Mich., which houses LIFT headquarters and the IACMI Vehicles Scale-Up Facility, the research and development hub for the IACMI Vehicles Technology Area. This event capped a near $50 million investment in world-class manufacturing equipment and improvements to the facility, recognizing the future of innovative research in both composites and metals to be done there.
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has received $392,000 in funding to commercialize a gas-atomization nozzle design used to produce metal powders for manufacturing. The funding is part of the DOE’s Office of Technology Transition’s Technology Commercialization Fund (TCF) announced recently by U.S. Secretary of Energy Rick Perry. The funding, totaling $19.7 million, will support 54 projects across 12 National Laboratories involving more than 30 private sector partners, and will help businesses move promising energy technologies from National Laboratories to the marketplace. In addition, Ames Lab will contribute in-kind matching funds of equal value for the project from private sector partner Ampal, Inc., Palmerton, Pa., a part of the United States Metal Powders group of companies.
Exciting news for those planning on attending the POWDERMET2018: International Conference on Powder Metallurgy & Particulate Materials and co-located AMPM2018: Additive Manufacturing with Powder Metallurgy conference, June 17–20, at the Grand Hyatt San Antonio. Registration information and a preliminary program is now available online. Due to the increased interest and overall success of these co-located conferences, registration fees have been reduced to encourage greater participation. Additionally, MPIF is taking steps to enhance the overall conference experience—including one fee for both conferences!
Höganäs AB has opened a new facility in Cary, N.C., that aims to improve water purification and soil remediation techniques. Höganäs has developed proprietary technology that uses highly porous iron particles to remove contaminants such as heavy metals from water and soil. This process has been shown to help rid groundwater and drinking water of contaminants like hexavalent chromium, arsenic, selenium, phosphates and radioactive isotopes.
Australia-based Amaero Engineering, in collaboration with a team of Monash University engineering PhD students, have designed, manufactured, and test-fired a rocket engine. Having successfully manufactured the world's first additively manufactured (AM) jet engine, Amaero approached the team with a challenge to design an engine that would fully utilize the near limitless geometric complexity of AM.
It was another successful year for the PM Parts Compacting/Tooling Seminar. The seminar, held about every 18 months, dates back to 1989 and continues to educate a variety of people throughout the industry, mainly catering to powder metallurgy parts and product fabricators.
The Metal Powder Industries Federation (MPIF) is pleased to announce that, for the second year in a row, a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant will be provided to select students from U.S. colleges and universities to attend the POWDERMET2018 and AMPM2018 conferences in San Antonio, June 17–20. NSF Grant Awards will directly cover the full registration fee and hotel accommodation in double occupancy.
Fraunhofer ILT researchers are exploring using selective laser melting (SLM) to additively manufacture (AM) components made of copper alloys and pure copper. While SLM is used to process steels, titanium, and aluminum alloys, as well as nickel and cobalt alloys, copper is a struggle. SLM is currently only suited for copper alloys due to pure copper reflecting most of the laser radiation, Fraunhofer ILT researchers hope to develop a laser beam source that operates with green rather than infrared light by the end of 2017.