Titanium developer IperionX has partnered with US-based centrifugal pump manufacturer Carver Pump to produce titanium pump components for the US Navy.
Carver will design the components, while IperionX will provide access to its patented titanium technologies for 3D printing. The pumps are used by the Navy for various purposes, including fire suppression and seawater cooling, and are prized for their corrosion resistance.
The US has struggled to manufacture high-performance large titanium castings domestically, leading to long wait times and high costs. Use of IperionX’s technologies hopes to offer a solution to these issues by using recycled titanium scrap sourced domestically, reducing costs and wait times, and increasing equipment availability.
“Our partnership with Carver is another important milestone for the rapid commercialization of IperionX’s breakthrough titanium technologies,” said Anastasios Arima, CEO of IperionX.
“These patented technologies can efficiently recycle domestic titanium scrap metal at lower cost than existing processes, and this high-quality titanium metal can be used for a range of manufacturing technologies, including additive manufacturing. We look forward to working closely with Carver to rapidly prototype and deploy titanium components for a wide range of centrifugal pump applications in US Navy platforms.”
The current lead time for large, specialized titanium castings is approximately 1-2 years, compared to just 1-3 months when manufactured with titanium powders via additive manufacturing.
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