UK-based inertial fusion company First Light Fusion has additively manufactured tantalum components for its flagship Pressure Amplifier in partnership with Croom Medical.
Croom Medical launched its TALOS platform for 3D printed tantalum products, developed in collaboration with Global Advanced Metals, earlier this year. This platform has been developed around a Colibrium Additive M2 laser powder bed fusion system.
Already, First Light Fusion has sought to leverage this capability to explore its suitability for the production of Pressure Amplifier components. First Light Fusion's amplifier technology is said to amplify input pressure delivered by a ‘driver’ machine, compressing fuel to high density and temperature to create a fusion reaction. The company says it can be used with any system able to produce the required drive pressure, with a range of drivers - including lasers, coil guns, electric guns, heavy ion and direct electrical connection - among the target applications.
According to a study carried out by First Light Fusion - published in The Journal of Applied Physics (DOI: 10.1063/5.0264514) - the additively manufactured Pressure Amplifier devices have been shown to match the performance of traditionally machined components under shock compression up to pressures of five million atmospheres.
The company believes additive manufacturing might also represent a faster and lower-cost production path. Traditionally, Pressure Amplifier devices have been manufactured from tantalum blocks using hard machinery including drills and mills. These processes are considered very labour intensive and wasteful.
Martin Gorman, Lead Shock Scientist at First Light Fusion, said: “3D printing tantalum gives us a reliable, cost-effective path to mass-produce our amplifiers - unlocking wide-ranging applications from materials research to defence.”
Shane Keaveney, R&D Manager at Croom Medical, added: “We're proud and excited to support First Light Fusion by applying our recently launched TALOS additive manufacturing platform to such a groundbreaking application. Tantalum is an exceptionally challenging material to process, and this project demonstrates how our technology can unlock its full potential in cutting edge applications where high-performance in extremely high-pressure environments is required.”
First Light has recently conducted its first fully integrated tests of additively manufactured amplifiers at its two-stage light gas gun test facility in Yarnton, Oxford. The high-impact results will be published in the coming months.
