French Collaboration Targets Additive Manufacturing

Spartacus3D | Farinia Group (La Clayette, France), a startup specializing in additive manufacturing, and CTIF (Leclerc, France), a French technical center with expertise in casting, materials and metal products development, are now joining their skills and resources to develop a leading value chain with the aim to become a leader in metal additive manufacturing.

Metal additive manufacturing, an innovative process for shaping material, consists in producing mechanical parts by melting metal powder by means of a laser or electron beam. This method provides additional solutions to traditional metal processing methods such as casting, forging or machining, in terms of design and production.

Additive manufacturing is not so different to casting since it generates both the material and the shape simultaneously. This means the major challenge is to ensure that metallurgical characteristics evolve in such manner that they give rise to material properties compliant with customer specifications. If appropriate conditions are met, the process results in excellent mechanical properties, capable of competing with those obtained by conventional methods.

In order to become a leader in this field and provide robust solutions to industry’s needs, the Spartacus3D and CTIF collaboration agreement will lead to the launch of several projects that will be unveiled in the coming months. In particular, the agreement includes leveraging Spartacus3D expertise and resources in metal additive manufacturing with those of CTIF in metallurgy, product design and training.

Charles de Forges, the chief executive officer of Spartacus3D, says, “In joining their skills, both companies emphasize the importance of metallurgy in securing the deployment of this technology in cutting-edge industries such as aerospace, defense, medical, automotive and energy.”

Paul-Henri Renard, the chief executive officer of CTIF, adds, “This collaboration agreement is a major component of our business strategy, whose objectives are to remain at the forefront of manufacturing  technologies and provide relevant solutions to our industrial partners while supporting French industry in a globalized market.”

www.farinia.com