Metalpine opens new production site for highly spherical metal powders
Metalpine GmbH, Graz, Austria, a manufacturer of metal powder and part of the htm Group (hightech metal investment GmbH), has opened a new production site based at its Graz headquarters, which will primarily produce highly spherical metal powders for use in Additive Manufacturing. An opening ceremony for the plant was attended by numerous representatives from politics, science and business including Dir. Karl-Heinz Dernoscheg, WKO Steiermark; Dr Robert Brugger, ICS Styria; Dr Gerald Sitte, Spaceone; and Klaus Fronius and Brigitte Strauß, Fronius.
According to the company, the total capacity of the new production site will gradually be increased to 400 tons per year, and using the in-house developed process, metal powders can reportedly be produced in a unique quality from a very wide range of metals and metal alloys (including copper, steel, nickel-based alloys, titanium, molybdenum, tungsten, etc).
Metalpine states that all its materials are produced using a flexible, environmentally friendly inert gas process under cleanroom conditions, and are aimed at highly demanding applications such as Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF), metal sintering, powder build-up welding or surface coatings.
Additionally, the new production site is believed to have a good network for industrial and academic research and development in the field of Additive Manufacturing, with research in the areas of production processes, materials and additives fields of application being carried out by the Montanuniversität Leoben and the Graz University of Technology.
