After experiencing the productivity improvement provided by Equispheres’ high-performance aluminum powders, Aconity3D has partnered with the Canadian materials supplier to distribute Equispheres feedstocks to its customers.
“Our material has proven to work well with Aconity3D equipment,” says Evan Butler-Jones, Vice-President – Product & Strategy. “This non-exclusive agreement allows Aconity3D to provide its customers with a powder qualified on Aconity3D printing equipment, that has been shown to achieve higher build rates than traditional aluminum powders when combined with the precision and power of Aconity3D’s equipment.”
Aconity3D is a manufacturer of custom, accurate metal additive manufacturing (AM) equipment. “We want our customers to have the best production experience when they utilize our specialized printer equipment. The best way to showcase our devices is to equip them with the best powder,” states Yves Hagedorn, Managing Director of Aconity3D.
Aconity3D and Equispheres have achieved remarkable production speeds for 3D printing using the AconityTWO system and Equispheres’ specialized aluminum powders, which have unique attributes designed explicitly for AM. Equispheres powder is used to print the AconitySCAN, a key component of the Aconity3D line of printers.
“We are thrilled to build our partner network with a company of Aconity3D’s calibre,” says Butler-Jones. “They have a deep understanding of additive manufacturing and the skills, knowledge and equipment to push the boundaries of 3D printing of metal parts.”
According to the companies, the AconitySCAN can be printed 3x faster using Equispheres’ powder (i.e., 53 hours reduced to 17.5 hours) with no impact on mechanical properties. This dramatic reduction in production time reduces the cost to produce the part by greater than 50%. Such a notable productivity improvement will help advance metal additive manufacturing in cost-sensitive industries like automotive.
“This is a good example of how a high-precision printer and a high-performance powder can elevate additive manufacturing beyond conventional performance. Aconity3D has achieved fantastic results using our Performance line of powders, and now that same manufacturing advantage is available to any company embracing metal 3D printing.”
Butler-Jones explains that the spherical and uniform Equispheres powder can take advantage of both the precision and configurability of modern 3D printers. “Equispheres’ powder can absorb the energy from a powerful one-kilowatt laser without disturbing the stability of the melt pool. This is not attainable with standard aluminum powders, and it becomes more important as the industry embraces newer higher-tech printing equipment.”
Equispheres sells its powder directly in North America and Europe, backed by a strong Applications Engineering team. To serve the Japanese market, the company recently announced a distribution agreement with Taiyo Nippon Sanso Corporation (TNSC).
www.equispheres.com