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A D V A N C E D M A T E R I A L S & P R O C E S S E S | J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 6

6

MARKET SPOTLIGHT

FEEDBACK

TITANIUM USE IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

TO REACH $330 MILLION BY 2020

Titanium Opportunities in Addi-

tive Manufacturing,

a new report from

SmarTech Markets Publishing, Charlot-

tesville, Va., explores opportunities for

titanium and its alloys in this growing

industry. Titanium is becoming one

of three premier metal groups used

for additive manufacturing (AM) sys-

tems, sought after for its high strength

to weight ratio, biological inertness,

and other desirable properties when

combined with additive processes.

Analysts project revenues for titanium

powders used in AM to reach more than

$330 million by 2020, corresponding to

730,500 kg (1,610,477 lb).

The report provides 10-year fore-

casts for titanium—in both $ millions

and kg—used in aerospace, automo-

tive, jewelry, dental, medical, service

bureaus, and other industries. Addi-

tional applications discussed include

heavy equipment, marine, energy, and

consumer products. Projections pro-

vide breakouts by Ti-6Al-4V and other

alloys. The report also profiles leading

companies within the industry, includ-

ing 3D Systems, Arcam, Concept Laser,

EOS, GE, GKN Hoeganaes, Honeywell,

Optomec, Praxair, Puris, SLM Solutions,

and others.

AM titanium will continue to be

used where premium performance is

required, say analysts. In the short term,

the supply chain for AM titanium pow-

der will continue to be controlled by

smaller specialty providers, although

larger global metal firms are beginning

to enter the market. The vast majority

of Ti powder used in current AM systems

falls into two types—Ti-6Al-4V and com-

mercially pure titanium.

Titanium is being explored for

smaller structures in aircraft engines

such as brackets and housings, but

may expand into larger structural com-

ponents to drive demand. By 2020,

aerospace is forecast to consume al-

most 155,000 kg (341,717 lb) of tita-

nium. In addition, titanium has good

prospects in medical markets due to

bio-inertness and as-manufactured

bone ingrowth performance. Current

production of titanium implants using

AM is growing rapidly, with new prod-

ucts in spine, hip, knee, and other or-

thopedic areas. Medical applications

of AM titanium will account for roughly

274,000 kg (604,067 lb) in 2020 due to

this growth.

For more information, visit

smartechpublishing.com

.

SILICON CARBIDE GETS DISSED

I just reviewed the article on beryllium

space telescope optics in the Septem-

ber issue and immediately wondered

why there is no mention of silicon car-

bide—for example, reaction-bonded Si/

SiC composites. Table 1 mentions ULE,

aluminum alloy, andmagnesium, but

not SiC. There is no mention in the text

either, unless I missed it. The article is

incomplete without such a mention.

Joe Greene

[Our article traces the development of

Be as an optical material that proved

to be the best and final choice for the

James Webb Space Telescope (JWST)

mirrors. We compare it to ULE, the

primary mirror material of the Hubble

telescope, for which JWST is the suc-

cessor. The article is not meant to com-

pare optomechanical materials in gen-

eral. While SiC is an optomechanical

material with successful applications

of space-basedmirrors and structures,

it was not seriously considered for

JWST mirrors. The reasoning was that

SiC could not be fabricated into mirror

panels of the required size and weight.

The density of SiC is 47% greater than

that of beryllium, with obvious ramifi-

cations for overall weight. In addition,

most types of SiC are a composite of

SiC and Si and, as several studies have

shown, exhibit dimensional instability

when cooled to cryo temperatures.

Don Hashiguchi, James M. Marder,

and Roger Paquin]

We welcome all comments

and suggestions. Send letters to

frances.richards@asminternational.org

.

Source: SmarTech Publishing LLC