Carpenter Opens 3DP/HIP/Heat-Treating Plant

The 500,000-sq.ft. Emerging Technology Center is available to atomize specialty alloys into powder, to manufacture parts using AM, and finish parts by hot-isostatic pressing and vacuum heat treating.

Carpenter Technology Corp. opened the 500,000-sq.ft. Emerging Technology Center it has been developing in Athens, AL, since 2018, which it describes an "end-to-end" additive manufacturing operation. The ETC is available to atomize a range of specialty alloys into metal powder, to manufacture parts using AM (3D printing), and to process AM parts into finished parts by hot-isostatic pressing.

The new plant also has vacuum heat-treating capabilities. Parts manufactured there are targeted at aerospace, transportation, oil-and-gas, and energy markets.

“Our Emerging Technology Center is a critical component of Carpenter Technology’s future growth and development, and is aligned with our business strategy of evolving to an end-to-end solutions provider and influential leader in the AM area,” stated CEO Tony Thene. “We will also use it as a base to launch future investments as we expand our soft magnetics technology platform, scale-up additional powder operations, and demonstrate a number of next-generation materials we have under development today.”

Carpenter Technology develops and manufactures specialty alloys, including titanium, nickel, and cobalt, as well as alloys specifically engineered for AM processes and soft magnetics applications. The new ETC is adjacent to a 500,000-sq.ft. plant produces specialty alloy products (including forgings) for aerospace and energy markets.

Carpenter noted the ETC is designed to maintain full traceability and provide analytical insights throughout manufacturing thanks to a "digital thread," so that the entire manufacturing process is conducted under one roof with a streamlined workflow. It calls this "a key differentiator" in the AM industry.

Carpenter has been focusing its development efforts in additive manufacturing since 2017, when it established a partnership with metal processor/distributor Samuel, Son & Co. to provide supply chain services for AM producers and customers — including customized turnkey additive manufacturing programs.

Also that year, Carpenter established a supply relationship with Burlington, MA-based Desktop Metal, Inc. to provide CarTech® alloy grades in premium materials cartridges for use in Desktop Metal’s office- and production-scale metal 3D printing systems.