Titanium metal production
and additive manufacturing –
contributing to a vibrant new industry
Dr Dawie van Vuuren
Mr Hardus Greyling
1
Outlay
•
•
•
•
South Africa’s global Ti position
South Africa’s Ti beneficiation strategy
Primary Ti metal production
Large area high speed additive manufacturing
2
South African’s global Ti position in 2006
South Africa
World
Approximate Value
South Africa
World
$ 175m p.a.
$ 840 m.p.a.
$ 490m p.a.
$ 2500 m.p.a.
$ 37m p.a.
$ 10000 m.p.a.
Reserves
220 Mt TiO2
1300 Mt TiO2
Mineral Production
1090 kt TiO2
5200 kt TiO2
Slag Production
1090 kt TiO2
Pigment Production
~20 kt TiO2
5100 kt TiO2
Sponge Production
Nil
125 kt p.a. Ti
$ 1250 m.p.a.
Ingot Production
Nil
145 kt p.a. Ti
$ 2600 m.p.a.
Mill Products
Nil
~90 kt p.a. Ti
$ 4500 m.p.a.
3
Titanium
Centre of Competence
Developing and commercialising
Technology Building Blocks
for the South African
Titanium Industry
Oil & Gas
Marine
SA
Ti Industry
Aerospace
Medical
Chemical
Automotive
Supplier Development
Industrialisation & Commercialisation
Technology Development
Primary
Metal
Production
CSIR
Powder
Consolidation
CSIR
SU
UCT
High
High Speed Investment
Performance
Additive
Casting
Machining
Manufacturing
CSIR, NLC
Aerosud
CUT
CSIR
Friction
Welding
Sheet
Forming
NMMU
Aerosud
CSIR
SU
Fh IWU
Aerosud
Physical Metallurgy and Characterisation
UCT, CSIR, UP, VUT
Design, Simulation and Modelling
CSIR, ULim, Wits, NMMU
Laboratories and R&D Facilities
CSIR, NLC, SU, UCT, UP, NMMU, UJ, CUT, VUT, Wits, Mintek, Necsa
R&D
R&DPlatforms
Platforms
Page 4
4
Cheaper Titanium powder – Changing the industry
Typical prices
Ti Powder
10 USD/kg Ti
Final
Products/Components:
USD/kg 150 – 20,000
Ti Powder
40 USD/kg Ti
Ti Mill Products
50 USD/kg Ti
Ti Ingot
20 USD/kg Ti
Ti Sponge
10 USD/kg Ti
TiCl4
4.4 USD/kg Ti
TiO2 Slag
1.45 USD/kg Ti
Ilmenite
1 USD/kg Ti
5
Current SA industry
TiO2 Pigment
5.3 USD/kg Ti
Industrialisation plan for CSIR-Ti project
2011
2012
2013
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Titanium Centre of Competence
Primary Ti Production (CSIR Process)
STAGE 2:
Basic
Developmen
t
STAGE 3:
Pilot Phase
(2kg/h)
Completed
R29m
CSIR
6
STAGE 4:
Feasibility
Phase
STAGE 4 Implementation:
Demonstration Plant
500 tpa Commercially Pure (CP)
Ti
STAGE 5:
World-Class Plant:
20 000 tpa CP Ti
R700m – R1bn
R50 - 80m Concept design
Cost estimate & feasibility
Basic design
Commercial
partners
Cost estimate & approval
Detail design
Construction
Commissioning
Operation
6
2022
CSIR-Ti pilot plant flow diagram
Cl2
7
Reducing
Metal
TiCl4
Metal Melting
& Feeding
Reaction
TiCl4
Transfer
& Feeding
Molten Salt
Electrolysis
Salt
Leaching
Ti Powder
Classification
Salt
Drying
Salt
Crystallization
Drying &
Packaging
UTILITIES
Cooling water, Steam, Compressed air, Argon, Electricity,
Off-gas scrubbing, Waste disposal, Storage
Ti
CSIR-Ti process advantages
• Continuous operation - 60 years after scaling up the batch Kroll process,
there is still not a commercially proven continuous process.
• Economy of scale with lower capital and operating costs
• Downstream production and fabrication costs of titanium components are
significantly less for Ti powder than for Ti sponge.
• CSIR-Ti process has lowest process temperature of all developments in
the world that is currently being tested on a similar scale of operation.
Scaling up is less risky with less corrosion, less salt entrapment,
reduced reagent and by-product vapour pressures and less hazards.
• Closing of metal recycle loop much simpler than in other processes
• It is the only direct titanium powder production process that is currently
being considered that gives the means to control Ti powder morphology.
8
Panoramic view of CSIR-Ti pilot plant
9
Additive Manufacturing (or “3D printing”)
•
Additive manufacturing (AM) is defined by ASTM as
“the process of joining materials to make objects from
3D model data, usually layer upon layer, as opposed to
subtractive manufacturing methodologies.”
Page 10
10
Additive Manufacturing (or “3D printing”)
AM used in final part production
Industries served
Source: Wohler report 2014
Page 11
11
Additive Manufacturing in aerospace
• Manufacturing of high-value lowvolume components
• Reduction of machining and
processing time and material waste
• Manufacturing of parts in exotic
materials
• Manufacturing of complex 3-D parts
• Manufacturing of assemblies
• Manufacturing of tools
Page 12
12
AM in the Aerospace industry
“Composite materials make up 50%
of the primary structure of the 787
including the fuselage and wing”
Page 13
13
Ti beneficiation
Billet
Ingot
Sponge
Extensive
Machining
90+%
<5%
Waste
Ore
Powder
South African
Development
Page 14
14
Min Machining
Final Part
South African
Additive
AeroSwift
Capability
Manufacturing
Present limitations/opportunities
•
15
•
Inefficient laser manipulation
•
Limited energy input
•
Serial processing
•
Limited part size
•
High Cost
•
Page 15
Limited production rate
•
Capital cost
•
Production cost
•
Material cost
Aerospace Qualification
Aeroswift - Objectives
•
Design and construct a large area, powder bed AM system, for metallic
components:
o Powder layer manufacturing
o High speed system for
 Production of large metal parts
 High throughput
o Versatile to support optimisation of parameter field
o Build volume:
 2m x 0.6m x 0.6m
 Scalable build volume
o Pre-heating and environmental control
o Materials that can be accommodated
 Ti-6Al-4V
 Stainless Steel alloys
 Inconel
 Other metals
Page 16
16
Laser Metals Deposition vs Selective Laser Melting
Characteristic
Laser Metal Deposition
(Direct Energy Deposition)
Materials
Most metals,
functionally graded builds
Most metals
Part size
Depends on handling
system
600mm x 500mm x 450 mm
Aeroswift 2m x 620 mm x 620 mm
Limited
Nearly unlimited
Part complexity
Build rate
Base
Surface roughness
(Rz)
Page 17
17
Selective Laser Melting
(Powder Bed Fusion)
20 -30
mm3/sec
Many geometries, also
existing parts
60 to 100 µm
Commercial systems 10 -20 mm3
sec, Aeroswift up to 60 mm3/sec
Flat plate
50 to 70 µm
Aeroswift in the AM technology landscape
HIGHER
VALUE
Part complexity
Powder bed
systems
Aeroswift
Powder
Deposition
systems
Wire deposition
systems
<500mm
>2000mm
Part size
Page 18
18
Aeroswift – Summary of 2014 Achievements
• Phase 1: Machine design and construction completed
• Phase 2: Process development and optimisation started.
(Nov 2014)
• Machine testing, evaluation and optimisation
• Parameter testing and optimisation
• Milestone: End 2017: Flight-ready demonstrator part
• Process development achievements
• Consolidation rates up to 60mm3 /sec demonstrated
• Low sample porosity (lower than 0.5%)
• Commercialisation strategy develop and presently being
implemented
Page 19
19
Progress – Process development
Sample
Ti6Al4V
manufactured by
400W laser powder
bed fusion machine
Milled and annealed
reference sample
Ti6Al4V made by
Aeroswift high power
laser powder bed
fusion technology
Page 20
20
© CSIR 2015
www.csir.co.za
¼ Charpy
impact
toughness at
25°C(J)
Vickers Micro
Hardness(HV)
6
370-440
7-8
8-10
350
320-390
Thank you
Questions?
Hardus Greyling
21
hgreyling@csir.co.za
Dr. Dawie v Vuuren
dvvuuren@csir.co.za