Latest advancements in metal powder on display at Formnext 2024

At this year’s Formnext, Sandvik will showcase the very latest additions to our offering – from metal powders to additive industrial customer cases. Both tool steel and copper-based powders will be demonstrated by our team of experienced material specialists.

Formnext is a leading international exhibition and conference within additive manufacturing (AM). Luke Harris, Sales Director in metal powder at Sandvik, says:

“We are gearing up for another exciting participation at Formnext. At Hall 11.0, booth E32, you can discover the latest additions to our metal powder portfolio, including copper-based C18150, GrCop42, as well as tool and high-speed steels HWTS 50 and MAR 55. Make sure to stop by – we’re excited to dive into all things metal powder and discuss AM customer cases with you.”

We’re excited to dive into all things metal powder and discuss AM customer cases with you.

New at Formnext 2024 from the ever-evolving range of Osprey® metal powders, is the latest development within tool and high-speed steels. Osprey® HWTS 50 is a lean hot-work tool steel characterized by a lower carbon content compared with those of medium-carbon hot work tool steels (i.e., ~0.22 wt.% vs. ~0.4 wt.%) and modifications to the carbide-forming elements which ensures a comparable – or even enhanced – tempering resistance despite lower carbon wt.%.

HWTS 50 has been developed primarily for laser-based additive manufacturing process due to its enhanced printability but is also available for Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIP) and Metal Injection Moulding (MIM).

The manufacturing process used in this case offers substantial cost and time savings.

Also demonstrated in the Sandvik booth are copper based powders. Manufactured in-house, both pure and in a variety of alloyed variants, the material allows for greater control over factors such as thermal and electrical performance, size, shape, and weight of end components. The Osprey® copper alloys come in fine as well as medium-sized particle sizes. It’s optimized for high thermal and electrical conductivity, which results in better heat transfer and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) matching.

To further demonstrate Sandvik’s capabilities, there will also be a variety of finished customer components on display. One of these is an e-bike bracket 3D printed in coarse titanium powder.

Our customer, GSD Global, wanted to add the material advantages of titanium for their high-end e-bikes. However, titanium parts are very difficult and costly to machine using CNC. We presented a solution that didn’t just prove to be financially feasible but enabled substantial improvement in terms of quality and energy efficiency as well.

Mikael Schuisky, Business Development Manager in metal powder at Sandvik, explains further:

“The manufacturing process used in this case, involving coarse titanium, offers substantial cost and time savings. It not only reduces the material cost by more than 40 percent. It also decreases the build time to a third compared to a standard 30 micro layer process. This is achieved while maintaining the mechanical properties.”

With more than 160 years of materials expertise and 45 years’ experience in powder atomization, Sandvik is a leading provider of gas-atomized metal powders for additive manufacturing, with the widest alloy range on the market. Visit us at Formnext to explore how this can benefit you!