Innospace, a South Korean company based in Sejong, has successfully demonstrated a method for 3D printing spherical vessels without requiring support structures. The company used its proprietary low-overhang strategy with Ti-6Al-4V Grade 23 titanium alloy to produce the vessels.
The technology works on standard Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) additive manufacturing machines, eliminating the need for specialized hardware or unique machine architectures typically required for printing curved geometries. Innospace’s approach produces spherical vessels with scalable capacity ranging from 1 to 15 liters.
The company designed the vessels for use as both oxidizer and fuel tanks in aerospace applications. The entire development process was conducted using Oqton’s 3DXpert software platform, which integrated CAD modeling, lattice and structural design, build simulation, finite element analysis, and slicing functions.
“This is what ‘AM as a Product’ means to us – technology you can trust, delivered at rocket speed with aerospace quality,” stated Jo Intaek, Division Director – Advanced Manufacturing Business Division, Innospace. The company positioned this development as part of its broader aerospace manufacturing capabilities.
Source: metal-am.com