Alcoa Titanium and Engineered Products has entered a joint program with 3-D printing company Norsk Titanium for 3-D printed aerospace part. Alcoa supplies titanium for all three variants of Lockheed Martin's F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. UPI Photo/Julianne Showalter/U.S. Air Force |
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NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (UPI) -- Norsk Titanium AS and Alcoa have signed a memorandum of understanding to form a joint technology and industrial cooperation program focused on 3-D printing.
"We're thrilled to deepen our relationship with Alcoa through this program, which is focused on advancing the global reach of our game-changing, 3D-printing Direct Metal Deposition technology," NTi President & Chief Executive Officer Warren M. Boley, Jr said.
"Through this cooperation program, we expect to build on our innovative technology capabilities by leveraging Alcoa's in-depth understanding of lightweight metal components, increase our offerings for aerospace and other end markets, and support our goal of delivering near-net-shape titanium components finished with minimal machining."
RTI International Metals, now Alcoa Titanium and Engineered Products, supplier of titanium for all three F-35 variants under a nine-year, $1 billion contract with Lockheed Martin, became a strategic investor in and minority owner of Norsk Titanium in July. NTi is now producing aerospace-grade titanium components with fourth-generation equipment.
Norsk Titanium said it expects to formally conclude the multi-year aviation certification process in the first quarter of 2016 and will begin producing titanium components for customer part qualification in 2016.
Norsk Titanium is headquartered in Norway and has a U.S. subsidiary.
"Through this joint cooperation program, we will bring together Alcoa's unmatched metallurgical know-how and deep aerospace industry relationships with Norsk Titanium's 3D-printing technologies to ultimately accelerate the introduction of advanced manufactured aerospace solutions," said Eric Roegner, president of Alcoa Titanium and Engineered Products.