Canada’s Burloak Technologies will use hot isostatic press (HIP) technologies to push the limits of additive manufacturing (AM) to deliver new levels of mechanical performance and strength properties in parts for mission-critical applications. Providing rapid cooling under pressure will minimize thermal distortion and non-uniform grain growth in components, producing finished parts with optimal material properties and allowing Burloak to significantly increase production.
Founder and Chief Innovation Officer
Burloak
As a full-service additive manufacturer, Burloak works with innovative companies in the space, aerospace, automotive, and industrial markets to rapidly transition their most challenging part designs to be additively manufactured at scale. The High Pressure Heat Treatment™ (HPHT™) capability of the new QIH 60 M URC™ HIP from Quintus Technologies facilitates this rapid transition. Combining high pressure, heat treatment, and cooling in a single process makes it possible to remove several operations from the AM production line, generating significant savings in both cost and time. Additionally, the press’s highly customizable cooling cycle can be programmed to stop at a specific temperature while maintaining the desired pressure set point.
The press's capability to rapidly cool under pressure, "is critical for Burloak as a full-service supplier for all customers, and, in particular, for the development of high-strength flight components," comments Peter Adams, founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Burloak. "Without this in-house capability, outsourcing this process would slow down our project timelines, add complexity to our processes, and risk damaging critical customer components as they would need to be shipped internationally."
The model QIH 60 press features a hot zone of 16.14 x 39.37 inches (410 x 1,000 mm), an area large enough to process any component printed on most powder bed machines, Mr. Adams notes. It operates at a maximum temperature of 2,552°F (1,400°C) and maximum pressure of 207 MPa (30,000 psi).
"We are very pleased to be chosen as their strategic partner in furthering the development of additive manufacturing," says Jan Söderström, CEO of Quintus Technologies, "and we look forward to sharing our applications expertise through our Quintus Care program."
All other images from burloaktech.com.
