Sandvik and BEAMIT Launch 3D Printed Super Duplex

Sandvik and part subsidiary BEAMIT Group presented a unique capability to produce Additive Manufacturing (AM) components in Osprey^® 2507, a super-duplex (austenitic-ferritic) stainless steel metal powder. The super duplex alloy has excellent resistance to corrosion, outstanding mechanical strength, and durability that is near fully dense (>99.9 percent) and crack-free, even before post processing. Sandvik has owned a significant stake in the BEAMIT Group since 2019, and adding the Group’s capabilities, including one of the most extensive AM machine parks in the industry, makes for an even stronger offering, particularly for customers looking to produce larger scale components.

Sandvik has been at the forefront of the materials evolution for duplex stainless steels for decades, consistently launching new duplex and super duplex materials that, with their improved properties, are an indisputable part of the company's DNA. Its super-duplex stainless steels are already being used successfully in highly corrosive environments, such as the seawater-exposed offshore energy sector and demanding chemical processing. Super-duplex steel, which is commonly used in the form of seamless tubes, plates, and bars, has proved a challenge in additive manufacturing – until now.

Sandvik has already presented an ‘impeller reinvented’ – a lighter, faster, and more efficiently manufactured offshore essential, developed in collaboration with energy giant Equinor and Norwegian Eureka Pumps. Now, projects in various marine segments –where super-duplex stainless steel is the material of choice–are underway, all in accordance with the company’s ‘Plan it, Print it, Perfect it’ approach, which states that printing is only one of the seven steps required to succeed with the industrialization of AM.

“By leveraging nearly two centuries of materials expertise and industry leading know-how along the additive value chain, we are proud to say Sandvik is the first to offer 3D printed super duplex components to the market”, said Mikael Schuisky, VP and Business Unit Manager, Sandvik Additive Manufacturing. “While many have tried and failed, we are very pleased to have seen components printed to a standard that doesn’t just meet but outperform that of several conventionally manufactured counterparts.”

Excited to co-launch this potent combination of a superior material and the disruptive benefits of AM to the market, Michele Antolotti, Engineering and R&D Manager, BEAMIT Group, elaborated, “Having already developed print parameters for single-laser machines, we are now progressing to expand our joint offering to include even larger applications. With the profound materials expertise within Sandvik, and BEAMIT Group’s market-leading abilities throughout the additive value chain, we are truly in a unique position to supply the offshore industries with an array of business-critical benefits, in terms of component performance and timely production alike.”

Emphasizing on the company’s experience with duplex stainless steels and being one of the flagship material families, Johan Wallin, Product Manager, Sandvik Additive Manufacturing, added, “By our joint forces with BEAMIT, and by combining the inherited applicational benefits of additive manufacturing with the superior characteristics of Osprey® 2507 – we are set up to drive the implementation of AM across a number of industries where the impact of optimized, corrosion resistant components, as well as on-demand production of spare parts is potentially enormous.”

Image Source: Sandvik