Amaero Focuses on Additive Manufacturing Solutions For Titanium Industry’s Key Global Business Secto

An Amaero AM materials engineer examines the world’s first 3D-printed, full-size jet engine.

In a world experiencing a new paradigm in supply chain discontinuity due to Covid-related disruptions and new complexities in geo-political global trade and international borders, it is crucial that companies—especially those in the titanium industry—can source quality metal powders from stable supply chains, preferably sovereign and/or allied capability, for their manufacturing operations. In Australia, one company is creating that supply chain solution. Amaero International Limited (website: https://www.amaero.com.au) is an Australian-based public company specializing in the provision of end-to-end metal additive manufacturing solutions in terms of materials, services, equipment and technology to its key clients in the aviation, defense, space, and medical sectors, as well as in the specialized tool and die industry. Additive manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing is rapidly evolving as a global force in the specialty metals sector. Aviation, defense, space, medical and specialty tooling industries are realizing the design potential and opportunities enabled by the AM process in terms of reduced material to part ratios (buy-to-fly), complexity, reduced mass, and parts consolidation.

Thus, the additive manufacturing sector is developing as an imperative field of interest for the titanium industry. With titanium’s unique characteristics of strength, corrosion resistance, light weight and its high melting point, titanium alloy powders are a pivotal fabrication material for additive manufacturing in the aerospace, defense, and space sectors. For these industries, AM offers a high degree of design flexibility, with enormous potential to reduce the scrap levels currently associated with traditional subtractive manufacturing methods (i.e. casting, machining, forging, etc.). The company works with many of the world’s leading manufacturers of aerospace and defense products in research and development as well as in scaling up serial additive manufacturing capability. Amaero established its facility in the greater Los Angeles area of El Segundo in 2020 to service and be strategically located nearby the leading global defense contractors.

Having set up its manufacturing bases in Australia and the United States, Amaero is tackling the issue of strategic supply of titanium alloy powders, on which its business relies. With the bulk of the global supply of titanium metal feedstock coming from Russia, China and Kazakhstan, it’s challenging to source titanium powder that has been manufactured from feedstock produced only in allied nations. Fortunately, Australia holds some of the world’s largest reserves of ilmenite and rutile, the two major ore sources for the production of titanium sponge, the processed and extracted feed material for the majority of titanium production. Vast reserves of ilmenite and rutile lie within mineral sand deposits across Australia, commercially extracted and exported by a range of mining companies. Major reserves exist on the east, west and southern coastlines of Australia. Given its vast reserves, Australia presents as a strong candidate to be a sovereign processor of the two minerals into high-grade titanium sponge and the resultant titanium products including titanium alloy powder. The logistics of processing in Australia would appear attractive. Australia presently exports approximately 9 percent of the world’s Ilmenite and 29 percent of the world’s Rutile, as a result being ranked as the number 1 global holder of Rutile reserves and number-two global holder of Ilmenite reserves, the source prime ores for titanium sponge synthesis.

The significance that can be extrapolated from these ore reserve figures, through vertical integration and sovereign production, is that Australia could easily move into a leadership position for the global supply of titanium products and ensure a strategic supply for sovereign application and allied supply chain networks. In addition, this vertical integration and sovereign production creates an industries and job market for rapid economic growth and export market potential for the Australian GDP. Australia has an opportunity to make itself a reliable and secure supply base for titanium alloy and titanium alloy powder, by developing onshore processing facilities to take advantage of domestic raw material reserves, according to Amaero. Australia should be exploiting its comparative advantage in raw mineral supply by adding value before exporting the outputs: high value titanium alloy powders and additively manufactured components. With COVID-19 related disruptions to global supply chains as well as recent geopolitical tensions, both Australia and the United States have acknowledged the heightened importance of accessing critical minerals and rare earths for onshore manufacturing stability and economy. Amaero has committed to build an Australian domestic titanium alloy powder facility, producing aerospace grade titanium. While initial feedstocks for the first atomizer will need to be sourced offshore, expansion plans in the following years will enable local recycling of feedstock material and use of locally produced titanium feedstock to enable independence of titanium alloy powder production. The company’s processing facility in Australia would be regarded as a highly desirable allied source for Australia’s global defense partners. Increasing global capacity for titanium alloy powder manufacturing would also put downward pressure on prices, making additive manufacturing with titanium alloys more economically attractive.

Amaero International evolved out of one of the Technology Research Platforms of Monash University, Australia’s largest university. Monash is a research-intensive university. The Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing does fundamental research from a broad range of disciplines and addresses manufacturing challenges (see sidebar). In its formative years, embedded in the Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing, Amaero engaged with a number of significant aviation and defense prime contractors on research and development projects, prototyping and pre-production qualification that honed skill sets and capabilities that continue to be implemented and expanded on current and upcoming initiatives. In conjunction with its industry partners, Amaero has achieved a number of world firsts, including the world’s first 3D printed jet engine, the world’s first 3D printed aerospike rocket motor, as well as the first 3D printed metal components approved by Australia’s Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) to fly on commercial jets.

The publicly listed company Amaero International Ltd. (ASX:3DA) was established in 2019. Amaero has manufacturing plants in the Australian cities of Melbourne (where it is headquartered) and Adelaide, as well as in Los Angeles.

Australia’s Monash Centre’s Applied Research Develops Additive Manufacturing Applications

The Monash Centre for Additive Manufacturing (MCAM; website: https://www.monash.edu/mcam/home), located in a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, is a central Monash University Technology Research Platform, performing cutting-edge fundamental and applied research and translating innovative solutions for revolutionary additive manufacturing. MCAM conducts innovative research at the forefront of additive manufacturing and offers world-class instrumentation, expertise, collaborative opportunities, and training to researchers for the university, government, and industry sectors. The research in MCAM has led to pioneering achievements in the real world, including the world’s first 3D-printed full-size jet engine, and the first international aerospace standard for 3D printed titanium components to enable 39 parts installed in civil aircraft.

According to information posted on its website, MCAM has 60 world-class researchers and technical staff from disciplines ranging from metallurgy and materials, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering to computer simulation specifically for application in additive manufacturing. It is becoming one of the top destinations in the world for research and application in additive manufacturing. MCAM has formed successful, ongoing collaborations with both local and international partners across a broad range of industries, including: aerospace, automotive, defense, mining as well as medical. MCAM’s research on titanium alloys is revealing significant new science in the crucial, much-studied material system. The advanced knowledge has tackled the toughest challenge in titanium alloys; for example, creating the strongest titanium fasteners for aircraft. Such titanium fasteners have the highest property requirements of all components: tensile, shear, and notch-fatigue strength (other components usually need only one or two of these). MCAM has also extended the design concept to develop a new titanium alloy for fasteners, yielding a 40-percent improvement in tensile, shear, and notched fatigue strength compared to the current Ti6Al4V alloy. The state-of-the-art facility uses the latest technology for manufacturing specialized and complex components from a wide range of metal powders (titanium, nickel, aluminum alloys and steel). Production equipment includes: selective laser melting machine (EOS), which is capable of producing high precision and complex, structured parts; the largest selective laser melting machine (Concept Laser) in the southern hemisphere, pushing the boundaries of additive manufacturing; direct laser deposition machine (Trumpf), which is capable of rapid materials development and large, scale part manufacture and repair; and a hot isostatic press (Avure) with unique high temperature and pressure combinations. MCAM Highlights: • Attached to one of Australia’s pre-eminent research institutions • Spun-off Amaero to commercialize its research work in additive manufacturing • Applies high-level research to a range of disciplines including material science and metallurgy including: alloy design, metals processing, surface engineering, corrosion and hybrid materials. • Research themes cover portfolio of metallic elements, ranging from titanium alloy and nickel-based super-alloys to aluminum alloys, steel and high-entropy alloys.