Burloak Technologies scales capacity with California AM facility

Having established its second additive manufacturing (AM) center in Camarillo, California, Burloak Technologies, a division of Samuel, Son, & Co., is positioned as North America’s first multi-site AM service provider, offering full design for additive manufacturing (DfAM) expertise at scale.

The 25,000ft² facility bolsters the manufacturing capacity available at the company’s 65,000ft² Additive Manufacturing Center of Excellence, in Oakville, Ontario. Between the two facilities, complete AM capabilities and technologies include laser powder bed fusion, electron beam powder bed, metal binder jet and powder, and wire direct energy deposition (DED) technologies. Additional offerings include engineered plastic solutions for Peek, Ultem, Pctg, carbon fiber, and nylon-based materials using selective laser sintering (SLS) and high-speed extrusion technologies.

Burloak and Carpenter Technology have also formed an agreement for future product design and development opportunities, with Carpenter Technology being the preferred powdered metals supplier for certain DfAM projects led by Burloak.

Photo courtesy of Sintavia

Sintavia develops proprietary copper alloy technology

Sintavia has developed proprietary printing technology for GRCop-42, the preferred copper alloy used by NASA and private space flight companies for rocket thrust chamber assemblies. The technology, which combines proprietary parameter set and post-processing heat treatment, was developed on an EOS GmbH M400-4 printer, and results in GRCop-42 components with minimum density of 99.94%, minimum tensile strength of 28.3ksi, minimum ultimate yield strength of 52.7ksi, and minimum elongation of 32.4%. It avoids the use of a hot isostatic press in post-processing steps, reducing the time, complexity, and cost of production.

Pavlo Earle, Sintavia’s vice president of engineering says, “As a company, we are uniquely positioned to unlock the potential of printing difficult materials cost-effectively and with excellent mechanical properties. The fact that we were able to achieve these levels of performance on GRCop-42… further cements Sintavia’s role as the global leader in the application of AM within the aerospace, defense, and space industry.”

Earle adds that Sintavia is currently developing proprietary standards for other materials, including refractory alloys.

To support aerospace, defense, and other manufacturers in highly regulated industries, Markforged is offering Onyx FR-A and Carbon Fiber FR-A, aerospace-ready versions of its materials. The materials are undergoing a qualification program conducted on the X7 industrial 3D printer by the National Center for Advanced Materials Performance (NCAMP), part of the National Institute for Aviation Research (NIAR) at Wichita State University. Upon completion, Markforged is expected to have the first continuous fiber-reinforced additive manufacturing (AM) process qualified by NCAMP, one of two bodies authorized by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to qualify materials for flight.

Since Markforged introduced continuous fiber reinforcement seven years ago, millions of parts have been printed using The Digital Forge. Markforged is now advancing its support of end-use parts for the aerospace market so manufacturers can take advantage of high-strength lightweight composites at lower fixed costs, shorter lead times, and reduced investment in labor compared to traditional processing.