Manufacturers’ Monthly sat down with Ben Andrews and Dominic Parsonson from Titomic to learn more about its cold spray technology and how it can be used in the additive manufacturing space.
Additive Manufacturing is one of the fastest growing sectors in manufacturing, with new developments constantly appearing on the global market. These have included selective laser melting, laser power bed fusion, and filament metal – but an exciting development made by Titomic is its cold spray additive manufacturing system.
High-pressure cold spray technology makes it quicker, easier, safer, and more sustainable to manufacture with metals. This process rapidly deposits strong metals, alloys, and other specialty materials at low temperatures – so they retain their intrinsic properties without needing to be melted.
Dominic Parsonson is the head of sales at Titomic and Ben Andrews is the global marketing manager. The pair explained how additive manufacturing has developed to become what we know today.
“A lot of people say additive manufacturing is an overnight success; this is simply not true – it has spent 30 years in the wings waiting for its opportunity to thrive and has finally reached that point,” Parsonson said.
“What separates our version of additive manufacturing from others is that other versions are melt based whereas Titomic is a cold spray system,” he explained.
The Titomic cold spray system accelerates the powdered metal by using a high pressure nitrogen gas stream into which the metal particles are injected, propelling them at supersonic speeds to a surface, where they impact and deform turning into a dense strong metal.
“What makes the cold spray system stand out is it is incredibly fast, it can deposit 5 to 7 kilograms per hour depending on the metal, which is far faster than any other version of additive manufacturing,” Parsonson said.
The Titomic cold spray system gives users greater flexibility in what they produce and even allows a manufacturer to combine metals to make a stronger product, something which may not be possible with standard manufacturing techniques.
“By using a cold spray system, you can use high temperature metals like Inconel 718 which are more challenging for melt based processes, which can be used, for example, in large scale barrels for artillery or even pressure vessels,” Parsonson explained. “They can reduce the weight as well by combining metals, allowing users to make a product that can withstand greater rigours.”
“In the Ukrainian war, we are seeing the conflict using an incredible number of barrels, something not seen for close to 60 years. Companies in the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe cannot keep up and Australia has realised it can support them.
Stronger metals for stronger defence
“Our technology really lends itself to an application like that, using standard methods of manufacturing you cannot combine metals like you can with cold spray. Because you’re not heating the metal, it can be stronger than metal forged utilising standard methods.”
“By combining the metals to create a stronger product you can minimise the instances of having to replace barrels, something that is so pivotal in a conflict such as this,” Parsonson explained.
As Australia continues to ramp up its defence manufacturing, finding new ways to compete on a global scale will be imperative for its success.
While the potential for Titomic’s system to be used in large scale manufacturing like that of barrels is immense, Andrews and Parsonson believes misconceptions around the technology are holding it back.
The pair believe the preconception that additive manufacturing is reserved mostly for fine or complex pieces is holding back Australian manufacturers ability to truly capitalise on the manufacturing style.
“Titomic’s technology does not lend itself to those highly detailed and intricate parts that are so often associated with additive manufacturing, but in high-performance, large-scale metals manufactured quickly” Andrews explained.
“The cold spray system works fantastically in conjunction with the machining industry,” he said. “Cold spray can make near-net shapes, or in other words, parts that are 95 per cent complete. Then, machine tools complete the final, fine stages to make a high-quality product.”
Andrews and Parsonson spoke about Invar tooling, which is often used to produce carbon fibre aerospace components. The process lends itself to tooling, as industrial dies and moulds are often very large. The cold spray process manufactures these large parts to near-shape, leaving only 5-10 per cent of machining needed, as opposed to machining tens or hundreds of kilograms of material away from a billet to produce a tool. “They would contact their supplier and ask for a piece of Invar and the response would be you would have to wait 18 months for that to arrive,” Parsonson said.
“Either the team waits 18 months, or they have to stock huge amounts of the material in their warehouse, sending costs through the roof,” he said. “Instead, they can come to us and say we need Invar in this rough shape, and we can get it to them in close to four weeks.”
Titomic, originally developed in collaboration with CSIRO, maintains its collaborative ethos. As Parsonson put it, “We are problem solvers.” Clients can approach them with a challenge, and Titomic can provide a tailored solution, ranging from selling the necessary machinery to entering a joint venture or manufacturing the part themselves.
“People can come to us in a range of ways but often they will approach us with a challenge they are facing, and we will help them to find a solution.”
“After they have come to us with the problem, we can sell them the machine they need, or we can enter into a joint venture with them, or we can even manufacture the part ourselves,” he explained.
A joint venture between Titomic and a manufacturer is mutually beneficial for both parties, utilising Titomic’s skills and materials to produce a strong product and then leveraging the manufacturer’s market access to send a successful product to market.
Parsonson explained that often they will develop capabilities themselves by completing research and sending it to organisations, who will then come on board. After developing a new product – thanks to a government grant – one customer joined Titomic to deliver the project to a wider audience.
Dispelling myths
Parsonson went on to explain some of the misunderstandings around additive manufacturing in Australia and how cold spray manufacturing can benefit manufacturing locally.
“Metal additive manufacturing suffers from the vision that it is going to be the best thing since sliced bread and will destroy manufacturing as you know it – and that is simply not true,” he said.
“Our process works alongside traditional manufacturing. We are there to add to the traditional manufacturing network and find ways to do things faster, smarter, and better than we ever have before.”
The uptake of additive manufacturing has been impressive at tertiary institutions over the last decade or so, but Parsonson worries that as the technology deteriorates the next generation coming through will fail to reap the benefits of metal additive manufacturing.
“One of the challenges in Australia is getting universities to collaborate on investments in large metal additive manufacturing systems to open up new opportunities,’ Parsonson detailed.
“Not enough focus is put around vocational training,” he added. “Being used for research papers at universities is great, but those completing vocational training will be the ones using it, so we need to make sure they are learning how to use those machines.
“These guys might just end up buying a cheap plastic printing machine online and that satisfies no one, so we need to make sure we bring metal additive manufacturing into the vocational space so Australia can reap the benefits of this great homegrown system.”
