IperionX & MRL partner for domestic US titanium powder supply

March 4, 2022

Titanium metal powder provider IperionX Ltd, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, has entered into an agreement with Materials Resources (MRL), Dayton, Ohio, to qualify and demonstrate the performance of IperionX’s Ti6Al4V powders for aerospace parts produced by Additive Manufacturing. This testing will take place under an MRL project with the US Navy to test titanium flight-critical metal replacement components for the Us Department of Defense (DoD).

Currently, the US is entirely import reliant for the production of primary titanium metal (titanium sponge). Given the lack of domestic production capacity, and that the US no longer maintains titanium sponge in the National Defense Stockpile, downstream titanium producers are almost entirely dependent on non-US sources of titanium. This presents the possibility that, in a national emergency, US production of titanium components would be curtailed as a result of being denied access to imports of titanium sponge.

To date, only Japan, Russia and Kazakhstan have titanium sponge plants certified to produce aerospace rotating-quality sponge that can be used for aerospace engine parts and other sensitive aerospace applications, with Russian company VSMPO-AVISMA being the largest titanium supplier for parts used on Boeing 737, 767, 787, 777 and 777X aeroplanes.

Ayman Salem, MRL’s founder and CEO, stated, “Having a domestic supplier of titanium alloys for Additive Manufacturing can address a major challenge in the supply chain. Demonstrating the repeatability and reproducibility of properties in flight-critical components will close the loop from powder to fatigue performance. The planned use of MRL’s integrated computational adaptive Additive Manufacturing (iCAAM) tools, machine learning, and in-situ NDE sensors will produce crucial information on the behaviour of the material while keeping records of the pedigree for use in the qualification process.”

IperionX supplies titanium powders from its fully operational pilot facility in Utah.

www.icmrl.net

www.iperionx.com

In the latest issue of PM Review…

Download PDF

Extensive Powder Metallurgy industry news coverage, and the following exclusive deep-dive articles and reports:

  • Powder Metallurgy: Discover innovative technologies meeting the demands of vehicle electrification
  • Gevorkyan a.s.: Europe’s fast-growing Powder Metallurgy company achieving success through a diversified customer base
  • Powder Metallurgy in Asia: A status update from the World PM2024 Congress, Yokohama

The latest news from the world of metal powders, delivered to your inbox

Don't miss any new issue of PM Review, and get the latest industry news. Sign up to our weekly newsletter.

Sign up

Join our community

Discover our magazine archive…

The free-to-access PM Review magazine archive offers unparalleled insight into the world of Powder Metallurgy from a commercial and technological perspective through:

  • Reports on visits to leading PM part manufacturers, metal powder manufacturers and industry suppliers
  • Articles on technology and application trends
  • Information on materials developments
  • Reviews of key technical presentations from the international conference circuit
  • International industry news

All past issues are available to download as free PDFs or view in your browser.

 

Browse the archive

 

Looking for PM production equipment, metal powders, R&D support and more?

Discover suppliers of these and more in our
advertisers’ index and buyer’s guide, available in the back of PM Review magazine.

  • Powders & materials
  • Powder process, classification & analysis
  • PM products
  • Atomisers & powder production technology
  • Compaction presses, tooling & ancillaries
  • Sintering equipment & ancillaries
  • Post-processing
  • Consulting & toll sintering
View online
Share via
Copy link