Mid Sweden University and Sandvik have signed a five-year partnership agreement which includes investment in an electron beam melting machine at Mid Sweden University.
“We have already launched the first project to develop and industrialise a new alloy on the market for electron beam melting – a super-duplex stainless steel material that is very strong and resistant to corrosion”, says Lars-Erik Rännar, professor.
The agreement means the parties initiate joint research and development projects. The new machine remains in Sandvik’s ownership, but Mid Sweden University is responsible for operation and service. The goal is to develop even more materials that help drive the industrialisation of additive manufacturing in metal.
“We are very much looking forward to collaborating with Mid Sweden University who are highly experienced in electron beam melting, and especially so since we will be focusing on super-duplex stainless steel. This is a flagship alloy group for Sandvik, which we have been perfecting for decades. Earlier this year, we announced our capability to process our well-renowned super-duplex metal powder Osprey® 2507 through L-PBF. We look forward to keep developing this material for other applications through additive manufacturing”, says Mikael Schuisky, VP and Head of Business Unit Additive Manufacturing at Sandvik.
“With the new machine and new software that another partner provides, we will be one of the first users in the world with this type of equipment. One can say that we go from being limited to laying a puzzle with existing pieces, to being able to design all the pieces ourselves in exactly the way we want. Overall, it opens up completely new ways of melting metal powder into a solid material that will give us fantastic research opportunities and hopefully useful results for Swedish industry”, concludes Lars-Erik Rännar.
