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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
.
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
.
Source: SmarTech Publishing LLC