‘From Mine to Prime’ or ‘the state of Domestic Scandium’ at AMUG (Additive Manufacturing Users Group).
We had the pleasure to organize a panel discussion with Rachel Levine.
It brought attention to a family of Aluminum Alloys which is going to find several applications in the US, as a domestic value chain is being deployed.
The “Mine to Prime” speakers:
- David Petitjean, Rio Tinto (Mine & MasterAlloys)
- Tim Grbavac, NioCorp Developments (Mine & MasterAlloys)
- Luigi Alzati, VALIMET, Inc. (Atomization)
- Jonathan Aaron Cohen, MIMO Technik (Parts Manufacturer)
- Steve Fournier, General Atomics Aeronautical Systems (Prime)
We ran an open house: two more members of the Industry network were in the audience and we invited them to join the conversation, as well as the final photo:
- Lynden Polonsky, Sunrise Energy Metals (Mining project)
- Jose Alberto Muñiz Lerma, Equispheres, Inc. (Atomization)
Key takeaways:
- Scandium is mighty: high weldability, printability, grain control, strength, corrosion resistance and a 5% lower density, compared to the direct reference, the 7000 series Aluminum Alloys. Not a fit for every application, as remarked by the audience, but still a formidable enabler of high performance.
- US parts designers have been self-censoring about the selection of Scandium-Aluminum alloys. Their fear of depending solely on Rusiian and Chinese Scandium is now misplaced:
a domestic supply chain is now Live, with one active mine in Quebec, Canada and several projects in US and Australia. - VALIMET, Inc. is bringing atomization of Scalmalloy(R) to Industrial scale, supported by a Phase II SBIR contract from the Defense Logistics Agency.
- Past fails and successes of Scalmalloy(R) are part of an impressive accumulation of data.
- There can be savings in terms of Total Cost of Ownership, as printing and heat treatment can be shortened for Scalmalloy(R).
- Rule of thumb: 3 raw materials suppliers, 3-5 contract manufacturers that offer this material on constant basis is what the Primes seek (Steve Fournier).
- A “Coalition of the Willings” in order to spread the resource requirements and squeeze the timeline of reaching a point of qualification for determining allowables and specifications (Steve Fournier).
VALIMET and MIMO Technik took this point to the heart and will work to identify and gather ‘the willings’.
We’d like to thank all of the participants, the audience, the Organizers who allowed us to spread these ideas.
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