The Australian company Titomic , a specialist in the field of additive manufacturing, unveiled at its production facility in Melbourne on May 16 what is currently the largest 3D metal printer in the world . The system can print out titanium alloy over an area 9 m long, 3 m wide and 1.5 mm high – at a rate of about 45 kg of material an hour. The procedure uses Titomic Kinetic Fusion , which is based on gas dynamic cold spray technology. One of the leading research institutions in this field is the Helmut Schmidt University of the Federal Armed Force s in Hamburg.

In the procedure developed and patented by the Australian state research authorityCSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation), for which Titomic holds the marketing rights, particles of titanium or a titanium alloy are ejected with the aid of hot gas through a nozzle and spray pistol at such extreme speed that, on impact with each other, they form a solid structure. This allows additive manufacturing of titanium parts of a wide range of sizes and shapes – from bicycles to aircraft parts.