TRUMPF Certifies 6K Additive’s Titanium Powder for TruPrint Systems, Strengthening Sustainable Manufacturing!

In a strategic move to further advance sustainable manufacturing, 6K Additive and TRUMPF have announced that TRUMPF has officially qualified 6K Additive’s titanium metal powder for use in its TruPrint additive manufacturing systems. This partnership marks a significant step in accelerating the production of high-performance titanium parts while maintaining a low environmental impact.

Both TRUMPF and 6K Additive have established strong customer bases within the aerospace and defense industries, with both companies committed to sustainability efforts. The qualification of 6K Additive’s titanium powder will ensure that printed parts meet stringent quality standards and provide assurance to customers that their parts will have a minimal environmental footprint.

Dennis Pede, Material Engineer and Scientist at TRUMPF, highlighted the importance of powder selection in optimizing performance: “At TRUMPF, we are committed to offering the best performance to our customers with TruPrint systems. While our systems are open, allowing customers to use their preferred powders, we work closely with our partners to recommend materials that achieve optimal results. The addition of 6K Additive’s titanium powder ensures that our customers benefit from high-quality results while contributing to reducing CO2 emissions in their processes.”

Frank Roberts, President of 6K Additive, expressed his enthusiasm about the collaboration: “We are continuously hearing from our aerospace and defense customers who need solutions to accelerate the qualification process for their materials. Our partnership with TRUMPF has simplified this for them, ensuring that both the machine and powder are qualified in advance, allowing for faster progression into production.”

As the world’s first producer of additive manufacturing powders made from sustainable sources, 6K Additive specializes in producing a full range of premium metal powders for additive manufacturing, including nickel, titanium, copper, stainless steel, and refractory metals like tungsten, niobium, and rhenium. 6K Additive utilizes the award-winning UniMelt® production-scale microwave plasma process, ensuring that their metal powders are precisely spheroidized with controlled chemistry and porosity. This approach eliminates contamination and ensures high-throughput production.

An independent Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study confirms that 6K Additive’s process can reduce energy consumption by 90% for nickel-based alloys and 75% for titanium alloys, reinforcing the environmental benefits of their manufacturing approach.

As the collaboration between TRUMPF and 6K Additive grows, the companies are committed to further developing titanium and other metal powders in the future to meet the growing needs of the additive manufacturing industry.