Sandvik increases increases its Welsh metal powder production capacity
Swedish multinational engineering company Sandvik has expanded its metal Additive Manufacturing powder production capacity in Wales.
The company announced that it had installed two additional atomisation towers at its production site in Neath, Wales, UK. This expansion follows a recent investment in a new plant for the manufacturing of titanium and nickel-base alloys for AM, in Sandviken, Sweden.
Sandvik supplies a wide range of metal powders for additive manufacturing (AM), including titanium, stainless steel, duplex- and super-duplex steels, nickel-base super alloys, aluminium, copper, and more. The alloys are all atomised in-house and tailored to meet the needs of customers in demanding industries.
“Sandvik offers extensive capabilities in terms of providing high-quality and consistent metal powders, to customers engaged in a range of additive manufacturing processes,” stated Annika Roos, Business Unit Manager of Sandvik’s metal powder business.
“By installing these new atomisation towers – one of which is already fully operational and quality assured, while the other is under construction – we bring our total tower count to twelve, and thereby significantly increase our ability to produce even larger quantities of premium metal powders.”
While much attention in the AM arena focuses on revolutionary designs, innovation on a material level is equally important. With its wide range of Osprey® metal powders, Sandvik states that it has the in-house capability to produce the market’s broadest portfolio of alloys and the metallurgical knowledge to customise the best suited material for each application and AM process technology.
Dr Paul Davies, Technical Solutions Manager at Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, commented: “Additive Manufacturing is in general challenging enough without questionable raw materials. Predictable and consistent powder flow is key when it comes to part quality and final properties – and since we have such a wide range of printing technologies for metals in-house, we can make sure all metal powders are tailored to the customers’ specific manufacturing process as well.”