Equispheres says its aluminium alloy powders suitable for sintering

An Ottawa-based materials science company Equispheres reportedly announced that after extensive testing it found its aluminium alloy powders suitable for sintering following binder jet Additive Manufacturing. The testing was done in collaboration with McGill University, Montreal, Canada, said Equispheres itself.

According to the company, binder jet AM technology was unable to produce sinterable aluminium alloy parts, primarily because of the aluminium’s oxide layer that results in rapid oxidation. But now that the powder is developed has thinner oxide layer and smoother surface will make sintering of aluminium alloy parts viable.

The specific findings of extensive testing include compaction-free, sub-solidus sintering of the company’s standard AlSi10Mg aluminium alloy powder, good densification (> 95%) and excellent microstructure.

As per the report, Equispheres is working with McGill University and other key partners on the further development of specialised binder agents for aluminium and specific automotive applications.

Dr. Mathieu Brochu, Associate Professor at McGill and Canada Research Chair in Pulse Processing of Nanostructured Materials, said: “The unique and tailored attributes of Equispheres’ powder have proven exceptional in compaction free sintering.”

He further added, “We are excited to begin work with Equispheres’ Binder Jet printing partners in the next phase to fully understand all aspects related to sintering of complex shape components and the fundamental relations with new specialised binder agents.”

Kevin Nicholds, Equispheres’ CEO, commented, “We are excited about the industry response to our unique aluminium sintering results. Although Binder Jet printer technology offers the speed and cost reductions necessary to enable Additive Manufacturing to meet the requirements of automotive mass production, the inability to print with aluminium alloys has been a major limitation to the technology – until now.”