December 2018

2018 Momentum Newsletter
Product Update

Elementum 3D materials picked for moon landing

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Here comes Aluminum 7050

Aluminum 7050 has been utilized in many industries, especially in the aerospace sector.  Similar to 2xxx and 6xxx series aluminums, 7xxx series aluminums are heat treated to develop their precipitate strengthened microstructure, thereby adding considerable strength.  The alloy is known for high strength, fatigue resistance and resistance to stress corrosion cracking (SCC).

Elementum 3D has recently completed a preliminary research project to design a composition and post-processing plan for additively manufactured Al7050.  The reactive RAM additions are locally activated by the laser energy during the build process to produce product phases that act as nucleants for the aluminum alloy during solidification.  These nucleants produce an equiaxed grain structure to reduce columnar grain growth and eliminate hot tearing.  As expected, the RAM additions solved the hot tearing and columnar grain problem. … READ MORE 

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Why are metal AM powders critical to quality printed parts?

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In this issue of Tech Talk Ben Rafferty, Elementum 3D materials engineer, will discuss powder selection, the first and perhaps most important step in the additive manufacturing (AM) process. He’ll be covering key attributes of quality metal AM powder including size, shape (morphology), flowability, tap density, and composition. These characteristics all contribute to achieve a high quality AM part.

Most people are not aware of metals three-dimensional printing and the extent that you can print complex high performance parts. When I started my career as a material engineer, I was only aware that printing metal was an emerging option; it wasn’t until I started working with Elementum 3D that I saw how important metal powders designed specifically for additive manufacturing (AM) are to the performance of printed metal parts. Additive manufacturing involves the addition of material to produce parts directly from a computer model, as opposed to a subtractive machining process that removes material to produce a part. Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) is an industrial AM process that produces complex near net shape parts with near full theoretical density. Properties often exceed cast parts and may approach or even exceed forged/wrought parts. … READ MORE

Team News
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Winter Wonderland

The Elementum 3D team lives all around the great city of Denver, but during the cooler months we live next to a “Winter Wonderland.” The magnificent snowy peaks and enchanted towns of the Rocky Mountains is a magnet that endlessly pulls many Coloradoans out to play throughout the wintery months. 

Now, let’s be crystal clear, not every likes to play outside in the cold (sometimes freezing temperatures), but some of our employees are passionate about their favorite winter activities. Tony Manerbino, Materials Scientist, loves to fly high on his snowboard. Adam Polizzi, Materials Engineer, also likes to snowboard as well as climb mountains with his family. Jacob Nuechterlein, President/Founder, enjoys family time ice skating with his 3-year old daughter. Mountain-side bofires get Jared Rickaby, Operations Director, and his wife excited to hang out in the cold. Then there is Christina Haley, our adventurous project manager, she enjoys getting eaten by rarely seen Rocky Mountain snow monster. Fun stuff! We hope your winter will be filled with great fun, too!

Check out this link if you are planing to visit Colorado in the next few months. It gives you 8 ways to make your visit to Colorado this winter unforgettable.

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Serial AM production — are you ready to switch on the green light?

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) has wowed the manufacturing world for over a decade and many have grand dreams on how AM will optimize part design, performance, cost and time to market. The industry is saying we are verge of serial 3D printing production, but are you ready? Does your part look like you want it to look like and consistantly perform the way you want it to perform—more importantly, have you determined what factors (i.e., materials and properties) need to be established to green light serial printing your first part? 

Contact us with your thoughts on this question and we will respond to you directly.

Am Industry News
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Meet our team and learn more about how and why we are passionate about developing superior metal-based materials and parameters for additive manufacturing.

OPEN HOUSE VISITS
All are welcome to drop by our Erie, Colorado facility on the second Friday of any month from      4 – 6 pm.

TRADE SHOW VISITS

January 7 ADAPT Expo: Golden, CO

March 31-April 4 AMUG Conference: Chicago IL, Booth #TBD

April 8-11 35th Space Symposium: Colorado Springs CO, Booth 1011

May 21 – 23 RAPID: Detroit MI, Booth #TBD 

Momentum Newsletter

Jamie Perozzi

VP of Technology 6K Additive

Mr. Perozzi has 20+ years of specialty metals experience with a focus on process, new product development, product management, and application engineering. Before joining 6K, Perozzi spent seven years at AMETEK Specialty Metal Products responsible for quality and process engineering. Prior to Ametek, he spent 10 years at Hitachi Metals – Metglas and 3 years at J&L Specialty Steel. Perozzi holds a BS Metallurgical Engineering degree from Penn State University.

Dr. Timothy Smith

Materials Research Engineer NASA Glenn Research Center

Tim Smith graduated with a PhD in materials science and engineering from Ohio State University in 2016. After graduating, his pathways internship at NASA Glenn research center became a full-time position. His research focuses on high temperature alloy development and characterization. He has contributed to 29 peer-reviewed publications including journals in Nature Communications and Nature Communications Materials. His research has also produced 10 new technology reports and 3 utility patents. He recently received both the Early Career Achievement Medal in 2020 and the Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal in 2022.

Dr. Douglas Hoffman

Senior Research Scientist (SRS)/ Principal Section Technologist NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory

Dr. Douglas Hofmann is a Senior Research Scientist and Principal at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he serves as the Section Technologist for the Mechanical Fabrication and Test Section. He is also a Lecturer and Visiting Associate at Caltech in the Applied Physics and Materials Science Department. Dr. Hofmann founded JPL’s Metallurgy Facility in 2010, was a charter member of the Materials Development and Manufacturing Technology Group, and helped establish the JPL Additive Manufacturing Center. He is the Principal Investigator of the NASA FAMIS Flight Experiment and was a 2012 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from President Obama. He has spent more than 12 years working in metal additive manufacturing and has over 30 granted patents and over 60 peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein

President/Founder Elementum 3D

Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein is the founder and president of Elementum 3D in Erie, CO. He earned his Bachelor of Engineering, Master of Science, and Doctor of Philosophy at the Colorado School of Mines. Jacob has been researching, teaching, or consulting on topics such as casting and powder metallurgy for the last 14 years. Elementum 3D’s work with powder bed laser additive manufacturing is based on these principles. In addition, is thesis work in thermodynamics and formation kinetics of metal matrix composites is directly related to all 3D printing processes.