3D-printed titanium revenue near $520 million by 2022

Charlottesville, Virginia – The recent announcement that GE is acquiring a controlling stake in Arcam will have a profound impact on the additive manufacturing (AM) titanium sector. Arcam owns Advanced Powders & Coatings (AP&C), which supplies more than one-third of the total supply of titanium powder for the AM industry.

Because of this development and other important trends, SmarTech Publishing analysts believe it is an excellent time to reassess the market opportunities for 3D printed titanium, releasing “Titanium Opportunities in Additive Manufacturing - 2017.” According to the report, revenues from titanium-based AM power will reach $518 million in 2022 growing to $1,077 million by 2026.

The ability to effectively process titanium alloys is a leading driver in the development of titanium AM. Titanium is becoming one of the most popular materials for metal additive manufacturing systems due to their growing use in both medical and aerospace industries.

About the report
This report offers a full analysis of the markets of AM utilizing metal powders and other titanium feedstocks in modern commercial additive manufacturing systems.

Analysts believe that titanium printing is becoming the biggest opportunity for metal additive manufacturing materials, with revenues exceeding all other alloy groups used in metal AM during the next 10 years. Titanium is sought after primarily for its high strength-to-weight ratio, biological inertness, and other desirable properties when combined. Covered in this report is how the printing of titanium is burgeoning in the medical, aerospace, automotive, dental, and consumer products industries.

This report presents the latest, highly granular, 10-year market forecast data, with breakouts by application, type of titanium material used, and AM technology used. Forecasts are supplied in both volume and revenue terms. In addition, primary opportunity factors related to the broader supply chain, primary providers of AM titanium materials, and analysis of the print technologies and powder production processes in this sector are examined.

While there are already quite large number of suppliers in this space, more firms will enter in 2017. Some providers have also begun developing application-specific or parameter specific titanium alloys based on customer needs and offering them to the broader market.

In addition, capacity expansions at existing leaders in the titanium powder supply chain are underway. Among the organizations examined in this report are: 3D Systems Additive Works, Advanced Powders & Coatings, Airbus, Arcam, ATI Metals, Concept Laser, CSIRO, DiSanto, Divergent3D, EOS, Farsoon, Fonon Technologies, Fraunhofer Institute, Fripp Design, GKN Hoeganaes, H.C. Starck, i.materialise, K Home International, Linde Gases, Lockheed Martin, LPW Technology, Matsuura Machinery, Metalysis, Norsk Titanium, Osaka Titanium, Oventus, Oxford Performance Materials, Phenix Systems, Praxair Surface Technologies, PSA Group, Puris, Pyrogenesis, Realizer, Renishaw, Sciaky, Shapeways, Sigma Labs, Sisma, SLM Solutions, Tekna, TLS Technik, Wacker Chemie, Xi'an Brightlaser, and Z3DLab.

From the report
The demand for titanium for 3D printing in medicine and dental applications is expected to grow significantly. In 2016 more than 150,000 Kgs of titanium will be consumed for these applications. However, this will have grown to almost 1.1 million Kg by 2022. Much of this growth will come from a successful push from the orthopedic industry to achieve FDA and similar certifications for new types of titanium implants. Applications for AM titanium include spinal, knee, cranial, and other implants – the entire industry is moving towards additive as a preferred production method for most titanium orthopedic devices due to the improved osseointegrative properties and ease of manufacturing related features using AM.

Meanwhile, opportunities for printed titanium are beginning to emerge in the dental industry through a worldwide growth in dental implants as well as production of custom titanium devices to treat obstructive sleep apnea.

Thus, the supply chain for qualified titanium materials for AM is entering a highly transitionary phase. Though this may provide a marginal boost to wire based systems, the qualifications for use of wire based AM versus powder AM only potentially cross in a few select applications. The significance of supply chain evolution in titanium powder for AM is therefore one of the most important issues currently facing the metal AM market in this rapid growth phase.

Revenues from additive manufacturing of titanium in aerospace is expected to reach around $110 million by 2022. Titanium alloys in the aerospace industry are in continued competition against other high strength-to-weight ratio materials. Nonetheless, there is already demand for specialty titanium alloys for aerospace other than the commonly utilized Ti64 – titanium aluminides (TiAl), for example. In the aerospace market, printed titanium is currently being explored for the smaller structural entities in engines such as brackets and housings.

Source: SmarTech Publishing