3D printing company FIT Additive Manufacturing Group has installed a hot isostatic press (HIP) with uniform rapid quenching (URQ) from Quintus Technologies to help improve productivity and meet industrial requirements.
The press, which will be installed in FIT’s main facility in Lupburg, Germany, operates at a temperature of 1400°C (2552°F) and pressure of 30,000 psi (2,070 bar), with a capacity of 120 kg (264 pounds) per load in a work zone that measures 270 mm (10.6 inches) in diameter and 500 mm (19.7) inches in height.
According to Wuintus, the URQ feature allows heat treatment and cooling to be combined in a single high pressure heat treatment (HPHT) process which can consolidate and densify metal,
‘We have evaluated the requirements of 250 international industrial customers for five years, and HIP turned out as an answer to many quality issues,’ said Carl Fruth, CEO ofFIT AG. ‘The results that can be achieved by combining AM and HPHT are highly encouraging.’
‘We expect that the industrialization of AM in general will be revolutionized once HPHT post-processing is adopted by leading AM specialist FIT Additive Manufacturing Group,’ said Jan Söderström, CEO of Quintus Technologies. ‘The overall optimization of process parameters and material-specific heat treatment parameters in an inline, lean-process production context will lead to a new benchmark for dramatically optimized quality levels while reducing costs.’
The two companies have entered into a marketing agreement to expand adoption of the process.
This story uses material from Quintus, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
