Designers and engineers searching for more intricate and lighter components have been given a welcome boost this week, with the launch of customised alloy powders by Goodfellow Cambridge Ltd.
The company is expecting significant interest from customers involved in additive manufacturing, structural jet engines, hydrogen storage and even medical implants.
Allowing greater alloy composition, particle size and increased flexibility in batch quantity, the new customised alloy powders will also include High-Entropy Alloys (HEA) that boast superior properties critical for future material innovations.
The exceptional characteristics offer great strength and hardness, excellent corrosion/fatigue/fracture and irradiation resistance and good thermal stability, as well as good ductility and magnetic properties.
“We can now create a HEA by using nearly any combination of elements, offering massive potential for advancements in manufacturing design and, interestingly, the production of 3D-printed components,” explained Aphrodite Tomou, Head of Technical.
“Thanks to our long-standing relationships with several specialist partners, we are the only UK supplier of customised alloy powders and are already working with designers and engineers to help them unlock experimental and production benefits. This is an exciting introduction.”
Goodfellow, uses patented ultrasonic technology to produce state-of-the-art alloy powders characterised by their high sphericity (≤ 0.98) and narrow particle size distribution.
The company’s technical team can advise on the different compositions required for certain applications and, to help accelerate innovation and more R&D activity, it can supply the powders in batches as small as 100g.
Aphrodite, who has been invited to speak at Engineering Solutions Live on March 23rd, continued: “Additive manufacturing has the potential to be a significant market for our business. This is because high-end technological systems increasingly demand lightweight and intricate components, which can be produced more efficiently and with less material waste using 3D printing.
“This new form of technology is already taking the weight out of parts destined for airplanes and rockets, whilst, in the medical industry, it will increasingly be used in customised implants and prosthetics.”
She concluded: “It is also a rapidly evolving field and there are many exciting developments on the horizon. For example, researchers are working on new materials that can be 3D printed, such as graphene, nanodiamonds and carbon fibre composites that open up unique properties and new possibilities.”