A double world first in 3D printing for Metalysis, University of Sheffield and Renishaw

The two world firsts are that: Metalysis' titanium powder has been used to support 3D printing, demonstrating the material's potential in the manufacturing of metal parts; the second is that the titanium powder used in this case was created from rutile sand, a naturally occurring titanium ore present in beach sands, in one single step. A Renishaw 3D printer, which is based at the Mercury Centre within the Department of Materials at the University of Sheffield, made the parts, demonstrating the feasibility of producing titanium components using additive layer manufacturing. The Metalysis process is far cheaper and environmentally benign, compared to existing titanium production methods, such as the energy-intensive and toxic Kroll process. Currently, the manufacture of titanium powder involves taking the metal sponge (pictured) produced by the Kroll process, which is then processed into ingot billets, melted into bar form and, finally, atomised into powder – a costly and labour-intensive four-step process. Metalysis takes rutile and transforms it directly into powdered titanium, using electrolysis, which is cost-effective; the low-cost titanium powder can be used in a variety of new applications; previously the metal has been excessively expensive for use in mass production of lower value items. According to The Financial Times, Metalysis is in talks with commercial partners to build a $500 million titanium industrial plant to use its new process for making low-cost titanium powder.