Rusatom: 3D metal printing in Russia

Very soon, on April 19, at the Technopolis Moscow on Volgogradsky Prospekt, the Top 3D Expo will take place - an exhibition and conference on additive technologies, robotics and digital production systems.

We tell about the participants and topics of the conference: today we have the Rusatom - Additive Technologies company (RusAT LLC, the enterprise of the Rosatom Fuel Company JSC TVEL) with domestic 3D printers for metal printing and their use.

About Organization

RusAT LLC is an industry integrator combining Rosatom's research and production enterprises as part of the development of domestic additive technologies.



The main activities of the company:

• 3D printer manufacturing,
• creation of metal powders and other materials for 3D printing,
• software development for additive systems,
• 3D printing services and their implementation, including the organization of additive manufacturing centers.

In the near future, the company intends to launch mass production of a second-generation 3D printer.

Alexey Dub, RusAT CEO, shared his plans for the near future for the state corporation in this area:

“A nationwide program for the development of additive technologies has been formed and approved, consisting of six main sections: software, equipment, materials, regulatory documentation, training and the creation of pilot plants

Together with the dynamic growth of the market, it is expected that by 2025 the world market for additive production will reach $ 45 billion, and by 2035 it will exceed $ 350 billion, and competition intensifies at a faster pace. Only recently, the price of 3D printers decreased by 30%, and the cost of products manufactured on them - up to 90%. In the future, prices for 3D printers and additive printing powders could drop another 30%. ”

The goal of RusAT by 2025 is to ensure revenue of up to 50 billion rubles and occupy more than 1.5% of the global additive technology market.

Topic

The representative of the company in his speech will talk about three areas of activity:

• Serial production of industrial 3D printers printing on SLM technology,
• Development of new metal powders for 3D printing with different properties and composition,
• Plans to open the first Additive Technology Center in Moscow with five industrial 3D printers.

Design project of the Center for Additive Technologies LLC RusAT. Courtesy of LLC RusAT

Projects

3D printer for metal printing

For several years, the state corporation has been developing a domestic 3D printer for printing with metals. Prototypes give consistently high-quality results, print samples are used for testing and further development of technology.
Read about application cases below, but as for the printer itself.


RusAT LLC modular 3D printer, prototype The

printer in the photo above is a pre-production model, its design will be scaled to create more compact devices that Rosatom will supply to medical facilities and manufacturing companies.

Evgeny Tretyakov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Surface Technology and Nanomaterials:

“In many ways, the work is successful thanks to the machine itself and its software, also developed at TsNIITMASH. Foreign manufacturers sell such equipment with certain conditions for materials. For example, we need steel 12x18 N / OT, ​​and this is a domestic powder. It is not provided for by their programs. We can work on any materials - our software allows you to choose the appropriate mode. And if we are talking about Russian production, then, of course, we need to work on domestic powders. ”

In 2018, a new model was introduced, capable of printing with two different metal powder materials, for which it is equipped with two lasers.



The performance of the dual-laser system is 60% higher. The printer has already passed sea trials by printing a sample of two materials. In the near future it is planned to print a blisk of the turbine (jet turbine wheel), with a base of one alloy and blades from another, which will reduce its mass and increase the energy efficiency of the application and resource.

Deputy Director General, Director of the Institute of Surface Technology and Nanomaterials TsNIITMASH Vladimir Beregovsky:

“The difficulty of creating parts from two materials is that each of them at the output must have certain properties, corresponding to the material passport. In addition, at their junction there should be one more property that would also meet certain requirements. ”

Alexey Dub, General Director of RusAT LLC:

“A unique system of powder regeneration will allow, in parallel with the printing process, to separate two types of powders that differ in fractional composition, returning the regenerated powder back to the printing unit. This significantly reduces the consumption of powders and, as a consequence, the cost of products. Currently, regeneration modes are being worked out. ”

Jaw, eye socket, joint

Based on TASS and AiF materials.

In 2020, Rosatom plans to launch a pilot production of 3D-printed medical implants.


Fragment of the jaw. Photo courtesy of RusAT LLC RusAT

Director General Alexei Dub:

“We must launch a pilot production of implants for medicine from 2020. In 2020, we must also create domestic software for 3D printing, the so-called "virtual printer."


Domestic technology for the production of medical implants is currently being developed at the TsNIITMASH State Scientific Center of the Russian Federation, one of the institutes of Rosatom.
The object of development is an SLM printer with a three-axis optical system. Like any SLM printer, it melts metal powder layer by layer, “growing” a given 3D model.

The main difficulty in the development of this technology is the selection of laser operating modes for the manufacture of titanium products with a complex fine-mesh structure suitable for splicing with bone tissue.


Eye socket. Photo courtesy of RusAT LLC

Aliy Delov, head of research projects:

“If we talk about traditional technologies, I just can’t imagine how the eye socket could be milled,” he says, rubbing a finger along its intricate bends. - And with us it turned out to be completely similar to the original. After us, the implant needs only to be sterilized - and it is ready for use. ”

Samples undergo all possible tests in third-party organizations, the results of the studies indicate their full compliance with the specified properties and suitability for medical use.

Thanks to such a printer installed in a hospital or medical institute, doctors can print an individual and ideal implant for any patient, based on his tomogram, in a very short time. The productivity of such a printer is 5-50 cm³ / hour, which is about 40 prosthetic cups of the hip joint per shift.
The cost of a domestic 3D printer for metal printing will be 20% lower than its foreign counterparts.

Industrial Pump Wheel

Specialists of NPO TsNIITMASH manufactured by order of JSC Afrikantov OKBM, at the first domestic 3D printer for metal of their own design, a complex geometry wheel for an industrial electric pump. For printing, domestic metal powder was used.

Printing this sample will allow you to determine the next steps necessary for the introduction of 3D printing with metals in the manufacture of critical loaded parts.

Deputy General Director, Director of the Institute of Surface Technology and Nanomaterials of OJSC NPO TsNIITMASH Vladimir Beregovsky:

“In the process of this work, we realized that our installation and our specialists are ready for such non-standard tasks, for a part so complex in geometry. Next, we are talking about improving the accuracy of manufacturing the product and obtaining mechanical strength characteristics corresponding to the characteristics of the alloy used. There is still a lot of work ahead. ”

The introduction of 3D printing with metals and alloys will significantly reduce the time for manufacturing parts with complex geometry, now their production is a long and laborious process.

Exhibition Materials

Video materials that will be shot at the upcoming exhibition of the Top 3D Expo 2019 conference will be available only to business and VIP ticket holders.

Read about the types and prices of tickets and register on the site: register .