Constellium’s AM powder qualified by Burloak Technologies
February 10, 2023
Constellium, headquartered in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, has announced the qualification of its Aheadd® CP1 Additive Manufacturing powder by Burloak Technologies Inc., Oakville, Ontario, Canada. This follows from a yearlong development programme, including both alloy process development and supply chain qualification.
This development is hoped to enable opportunities to develop and produce aluminium components with Powder Beam Laser Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) that cannot be achieved with traditional Al alloys. Constellium has partnered with Burloak Technologies due to Burloak’s AM experience and fully vertically integrated facility, with heat treatment, five-axis CNC machining, and laboratory capabilities available in-house.
“The results have shown that CP1 offers a significant improvement over traditional aluminium alloys like AlSi10Mg,” stated Jason Ball, vice president and General Manager, Burloak Technologies. “The simplified heat treatment and improved physical properties enable Burloak to leverage Constellium Aheadd CP1 alloy and push the boundaries for both structural and functional applications such as RF and heat exchangers.”
“Our in-house metallurgical lab allowed us to easily integrate Aheadd CP1 in our proven manufacturing process to ensure that we will be able to scale up the printing process and supply high-quality components,” Ball added.
By leveraging its experience in aluminium, Constellium developed and industrialised Aheadd CP1 alloy in 2020.
“At Constellium, we design and manufacture advanced alloys and engineered solutions for a range of applications. For the Additive Manufacturing product line our team designed the Aheadd CP1 alloy specifically for the [PBF-LB] process to facilitate new possibilities for AM components,” stated Syam Unnikrishnan, Constellium’s AM business development manager. “The alloy’s well-balanced mechanical properties and ease of printing and post-processing make Aheadd CP1 the alloy of choice to cover a wide range of aluminium [PBF-LB] applications.”
Both Burloak Technologies and Constellium are said to be optimistic about future opportunities for Aheadd CP1-based applications. The alloy is expected to be well-suited for use in various industrial segments such as aviation, space, defence and others. Burloak intends to build on its AM heritage in applications like space flight to tailor a custom solution and leverage the strengths of Aheadd CP1 to enhance the performance of its customer’s additively manufactured components, whether structural, RF or thermal management.
