GE Additive Binder Jet BETA H2 machine
GE Additive's beta H2 binder jetting platform.
Sandvik Additive Manufacturing has joined the GE Additive H2 Binder Jet beta programme and will use the machine to supply parts to internal and external customers.
The Swedish company has been announced as a strategic partner in the programme and will be working to qualify its Osprey range of metal 3D printing powders for use on the H2 system, supplementing the materials already enabled by GE Additive and AP&C.
GE Additive first outlined its plans to develop and commercialise a metal binder jet technology at the end of 2017, with the H2 machine being unveiled once Fortune 500 manufacturer Cummins had agreed to become the first beta partner. A month later, Wabtec followed. This beta process is said to involve ‘developing the beta H2 system into pilot lines and eventually into a commercially available factory solution in 2021’. It is being pitched as GE Additive’s ‘mass production, high volume, low cost’ solutions which ‘rounds out’ the company’s metal additive manufacturing hardware portfolio.
Read more: Interview - GE Additive discusses Binder Jet technology and 3D printing for production
Joining two industrial manufacturers in the beta programme is metal powder specialist Sandvik. While boasting over 150 years of materials technology expertise and 40 years of powder atomisation know-how, the company also provides low-alloy steels, tool steels, stainless steels, copper alloys, low expansion alloys and soft magnetic alloys through its Osprey range. This offering is believed to complement the nickel, titanium, aluminium proficiencies of GE Additive’s AP&C division. As such, the company has sought to integrate Sandvik into its H2 beta programme.
“Our approach to Binder Jet is making additive mass production a reality in every industry,” commented Jacob Brunsberg, Binder Jet Product Line Leader at GE Additive. “And while it would be relatively easier to launch individual machines, we continue to hear from customers, especially in the automotive industry, that they need a complete solution that can scale. Attracting partners like Sandvik – with know-how in industrialising innovation, deep materials knowledge and a shared vision for the potential for additive technology – remains a cornerstone of our Binder Jet commercialisation strategy.”
“Sandvik is a leading expert in gas-atomised additive manufacturing powders, as well as in optimising the materials to customers’ specific print processes and applications,” added Kristian Egeberg, President of Sandvik Additive Manufacturing. “The materials collaboration with GE Additive offers great opportunities to qualify our wide range of Osprey metal powders for their new Binder Jet platform, to enhance end customer productivity and product performance.”
