Precious metal company Cooksongold AM, EOS and a number of other partners have developed a way to 3D print the tip plates of bushings, used in the production of glass fiber.
Cooksongold says that it has been able to additive manufacture (AM) a full-size tip plate from a precious metal platinum/rhodium alloy that has successfully passed initial production trials at composite manufacturer Johns Manville.
The company can now print with precious metals on an industrial scale and improve applications to make them commercially viable, it said.
‘At EOS we are working every day to make industrial 3D printing a sustainable, mainstream manufacturing process,’ said Thomas Weitlaner, business development director at EOS. ‘The 3D printing of tip plates is another great example, how additive manufacturing can bring real business value and innovation to the glass fiber industry. Additionally we see a lot more promising applications that can further increase the efficiency of the glass fiber production process.’
This story uses material from Cooksongold, with editorial changes made by Materials Today. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent those of Elsevier.
