Morris Technologies Inc. (MTI) has purchased an Arcam A2 electron beam melting (EBM) machine. MTI is the global leader in additive-metal manufacturing, and this acquisition enhances their arsenal of product offerings by making the EBM technology available to their customers in aerospace, medical, and other industries.
The Arcam A2 builds functional metal parts layer by layer using metal powder. The powder is melted by a powerful electron beam to the exact geometry dictated by a 3D CAD model. Parts are built in vacuum at elevated temperatures resulting in stress-relieved parts with material properties better than cast and comparable to wrought material.
The acquisition of the EBM additive manufacturing machine will offer advantages to MTI's customers. "The Arcam A2 is a complementary technology to our existing DMLS additive manufacturing machines and will allow us to offer additional capabilities and solutions for our customers," says Greg Morris, CEO of Morris Technologies. "Coupled with our extensive, world-class machining and finishing technologies, we believe that we can offer cost and time savings for a number of customer geometries and projects."
The Arcam machine will be installed at MTI's facility and ready for manufacturing in January 2012. Initially, Morris Technologies will be focusing on building geometries from titanium (Ti 64). They plan ongoing testing of other alloy powders and will introduce other options as appropriate.