Industry led Materials Consortium for AM

Dyndrite, providers of the GPU-accelerated computation engine used to create next-generation digital manufacturing hardware and software, along with additive manufacturing (AM) materials producers Constellium, Elementum 3D, and Sandvik announced the formation of the first industry led, Materials Consortium for AM. The joint effort is designed to make laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) powder parameters and related testing data for common materials freely and publicly available to end users, enabling increased knowledge sharing, better outcomes, and faster adoption of materials and techniques.

With the increasing use of additive manufactured parts, especially 3D printed metal parts, users are demanding more choice and flexibility in acquiring, innovating, and adapting various materials to their particular applications. Along with the growing capabilities of 3D printing machines, the industry requires knowledge sharing and standardization to accelerate and grow market adoption. Dyndrite along with leading LPBF materials suppliers, Constellium, Elementum 3D, and Sandvik have formed a consortium to increase the accessibility of tested parameter sets by improving the public's access to their most common and frequently used material parameters, and testing data.

Materials are a key pillar of additive manufacturing," says Harshil Goel, CEO, Dyndrite. “Unfortunately, maximizing the capabilities of a material, especially as it relates to the geometry being printed, is a black art within our industry. If additive is to become a mainstream manufacturing process, users require transparency and standardization. Public access to a set of trusted, democratized parameters shines a light on the path of adoption.”

The business case for being an open architecture metal 3D solution provider is at its core about making our customers more successful,” says Garett Purdon, vice president of sales for the Americas at SLM Solutions. “It’s about creating choices for our customers and acknowledging that we can go further, together.”

Sandvik has manufactured metal powder for about 45 years and powder for Laser - Powder Bed Fusion specifically for more than 20 years, leveraging the widest range of alloy powders on the market. We look forward to working with Dyndrite, Constellium, and Elementum 3D to increase users' access to the knowledge that unlocks the full potential of AM materials,” says Andrew Coleman, head of additive manufacturing, Sandvik. “A rising tide lifts all boats, and we are excited to be a founding member of a group determined to help users, machine vendors, and material suppliers.”

I’m excited to participate in the launch of the Dyndrite Materials Consortium. The Materials Consortium will make it easier for our customers to benefit from our high performance materials designed specifically for laser powder bed fusion, such as our Aheadd CP1 aluminum-iron-zirconium powders,” says Ravi Shahani, chief engineer, Constellium Additive Manufacturing. “This will help accelerate adoption of aluminum AM across multiple LPBF platforms to produce higher performance components at lower qualification cost and lower production cost. Customers will quickly achieve predictable, robust properties, precise geometries, better surface quality, simplified post-processing and optimized print cycle times.”

Dyndrite recently unveiled a next-generation materials and process development software for LPBF. Users can finely optimize laser and material parameters to account for difficult-to-print features such as overhangs, domes, cantilevers, and thin walls, or to increase print throughput. Dyndrite’s tools simplify and accelerate materials parameter development for leading metal 3D printers, including Aconity3D, EOS, Renishaw, SLM, and more.

We applaud Dyndrite for their foresight in bringing materials suppliers together in support of the designers and manufacturers. This effort is designed to grow our industry by giving innovators a solid head start for realizing their innovations,” says Dr. Jeremy Iten, chief technology officer, Elementum 3D. “For us, Dyndrite’s LPBF tools have allowed us to increase geometric capability and print quality while dramatically reducing the time it takes to prepare builds. Parameter sets developed using Dyndrite surpassed our previous capability for supportless low angle features, thus expanding the range of applications favoring additive manufacturing. Dyndrite is helping Elementum 3D deliver a more effective product to our customers.”

The members of the Materials Consortium will collaborate on producing, testing, and making publicly available parameters for their materials.  Materials suppliers interested in learning more about or joining the consortium can visit: https://www.dyndrite.com/contact