Economic aspects of Ti powder metallurgy and additive manufacturing

[AirborneMetals]

Titanium is an expensive material in its own right: roughly speaking, it is around six times as expensive as steel. It is worth noting that over 40% of titanium is used in aerospace and is highly concentrated amongst buyers, whereas much less than 1% of hardened steels are used in aerospace. This creates the tendency for considerable price fluctuations for titanium, which is also not traded on the London Metal Exchange.

Currently, powder is still very expensive, on the order of (up to) 600 USD per kg. Curiously, most titanium powder is produced within the US, although most AM machines are produced within Europe.

Clearly, AM technologies are still maturing. As the technology develops, 3D printers will become more economical. Prices range from 300K USD to over 2M USD for the largest industrial units.

As with all investments, justification of the technology is a matter of establishing a robust business case. Aspects such as acquisition cost, depreciation, operating costs (e.g. material, labor, maintenance) all need to be considered. Notwithstanding, most believe this technology looks very promising as progress is being made to minimize the drawbacks. In time, both quality – particularly process repeatability – and cost will improve to firmly challenge conventional manufacturing methods.

As a result, it is expected the technology will gain acceptance, and as TRL’s improve and economies of scale apply, it is reasonable to expect we will see widespread, maybe massive application of the technology within the aerospace industry in a few years time.