AMS Increasing Advanced Manufacturing Capacity in Titanium
Lonsdale, Australia, November 11, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Advanced Metallurgical Solutions (AMS), the only Australian manufacturer of Metal Injection Moulded (MIM) components and sintered metallic membrane, has announced that an additional 100 tonne automated injection moulding press and an additional vacuum/hydrogen sintering furnace as well as ancillary equipment will be brought online in the first quarter of 2015 to form a dedicated Titanium manufacturing division. Bringing the new equipment online will increase their average weekly capacity in Titanium by 24,000 Injected Moulded components or 150 m2 of metallic membrane.
According to Director of Development Craig Erskine “We see an increasing trend towards using Titanium in component manufacture due to the efficiencies of the advanced manufacturing techniques we use. Complex parts can be made quickly with high consistency, high strength, tight tolerances and almost no waste. These efficiencies bring the cost of Titanium components down severalfold, making them competitive with components made of inferior materials using traditional methods.”
The MIM process starts with metal powder and binders that are blended together. The resulting feedstock is liquefied and injected into a mould using a conventional injection moulding press. The green part that comes out of the press is then debound to remove the bulk of the binders and then sintered in a high temperature vacuum furnace to form the finished part.
Threads, grooves, holes, protrusions, embossing and dating can all be incorporated into the mould, making it possible to produce complex parts with little to no secondary operations, such as machining, polishing, or tapping.
A dedicated Titanium Injection Moulding (TIM) division opens new opportunities for customers requiring production runs smaller than the minimum 1,000 to 4,000 parts required by many MIM manufacturers. Pooling groups of similar components allows much of the variable cost to be spread over several smaller runs, bringing the component cost of runs of 50-100 components in line with the cost of much larger runs. Once the 3D printed or machined prototyping phase for a component is complete, AMS can offer substantial savings in both low and high volumes.
“This opportunity should also be of interest to potential small- and medium-run customers in the USA,” explains Mr. Erskine, “since there is no customs duty for Titanium goods imported into America from Australia and no language barrier either. These factors help make switching to TIM with us easier and more economical.”
AMS is currently seeking expressions of interest in MIM and TIM components made in Australia. Parties with component manufacturing needs can register their interest on their website.