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Gold Coast manufacturer PWR Advanced Cooling Technology has partnered with French manufacturer Constellium to produce additive manufactured components.
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The two companies will cooperate to develop next-generation 3D printed heat exchangers and aluminium components for defence, automotive, and aerospace industries, according to a statement made on 2 May.
PWR Cooling Technology technical project manager Mark Booker said Constellium’s metallurgical expertise will be integrated with PWR’s design and manufacturing capabilities to deliver cost-competitive solutions with improved thermal performance.
“The Aheadd (aluminium additive manufacturing alloys) material allows PWR to explore new possibilities with 3D printing combining complex shapes, faster print times, and improved thermal performance,” he said.
“The ability to anodise, weld and braze all in-house with this alloy opens applications not previously suited to 3D printing.”
PWR’s presence in North America and Europe will play a key role in addressing customer needs efficiently, while Constellium provides metallurgical knowledge.
Constellium business development manager Syam Unnikrishnan said the company’s alloy design team is highly successful in integrating customer needs and solving challenges associated with printing aluminium alloys.
“Constellium’s objective for additive manufacturing (AM) is to enable customers to explore the full potential of aluminium alloys and reduce the high-cost barrier of AM components,” he said.
“Rather than adopting the existing aluminium alloy systems, Constellium designed Aheadd CP1 alloy (Al-Fe-Zr) specifically for L-PBF process.
“The special characteristics of the CP1 alloy such as absence of silicon and ability to anodise and braze enable new aluminium L-PBF applications.
“The absence of volatile elements in the composition enables fast but high-quality material deposition during printing, supporting the significant cost reduction for large, printed components.”
