Desktop Metal (Burlington, MA) has acquired Aerosint (Herstal, Belgium), which specializes in multimaterial deposition systems for powder-based additive manufacturing solutions.
Aerosint’s powder deposition system is based on a digital process that selectively deposits two or more powders to form a single, thin powder layer containing multiple materials. The company’s selective powder deposition technology enables full 3D control of material placement during printing and can be integrated into any powder-bed additive manufacturing process, such as laser powder-bed fusion, binder jetting, high-speed sintering, or selective laser sintering. This multimaterial approach to powder deposition is designed to support high-speed printing of a broad range of polymers, metals, and ceramics.
Selective powder deposition unlocks a range of new use cases for additive manufacturing. In addition to reducing powder waste, material cost, and post-processing time associated with single-material, commercially available powder-bed additive manufacturing processes, multimaterial powder deposition has the potential to realize additional benefits at scale. Such benefits include localized optimization of mechanical properties, such as wear resistance or vibration dampening, and improved chemical and physical properties, such as thermal and electrical conductivity, corrosion resistance, or aesthetics. Examples of applications for multimaterial printing include:
- Molds with conformal cooling channels optimized for heat dissipation;
- Wear-resistant cutting tools with a hard exterior and ductile interior;
- Conductive metal paths within polymer parts for flexible electronics;
- Bi-material luxury goods with superior aesthetics; and
- RF components with different dielectric and conductive properties.
The acquisition of Aerosint will advance Desktop Metal’s strategy to own differentiated print technologies that enable an expanding set of Additive Manufacturing 2.0 applications at scale, says Ric Fulop, founder and CEO of Desktop Metal. The company will help Aerosint to mature the technology and integrate it into upcoming Desktop Metal products over the next several years.
Aerosint will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Desktop Metal and continue to be led by its founders Edouard Moens de Hase and Matthias Hick, who will serve as Managing Director and Innovation Director of the Aerosint business, respectively. Aerosint multimaterial products and services will continue to be widely available to the additive manufacturing industry with integration into Desktop Metal platforms targeted within the next two years.
Source: Desktop Metal/Aerosint press release via Business Wire