A new chemical immersion treatment to enhance the surface of additive manufactured parts could revolutionise the aerospace industry.
South West Metal Finishing (SWMF) has been working on its Almbrite™ process for the last three years and believes it could be the future choice of aircraft manufacturers around the world. Some of SWMF’s tier one aerospace clients include Safran, UTC Aerospace and Airbus.
AlmbriteTM is a chemical immersion process designed to modify and enhance the surface of additive layer manufactured parts by removing Foreign Object Debris as well as Smoothing and Brightening the surface of part. The process can be used for any type of part but a significant advantage is that it is also suitable for internal surfaces where a high-quality finish can be achieved.
Additive layer manufacturing (ALM) uses various techniques to construct a three-dimensional object including extrusion and laser sintering based processes. ALM is a process in which a component is built up in discreet layers by using a high energy heat source to melt or fuse powders. The processes are driven by data taken directly from computer aided designs (CAD) which are then sliced into individual layers. Fine metal powders are deposited on top of a build platform and the energy beam is used to melt the shape of the desired component, the process then proceeds with a new layer of powder which is subsequently melted, such that the component is built up in a layer by layer fashion.
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We have worked with companies from a wide range of sectors and have obtained many company approvals and accreditations.
I just wanted to pass my thanks to you and your teams for all the hard work and commitment you put into processing our TSA work last week
You pulled out all the stops (despite a number of curve-balls!) and kept everyone informed – we thank you for everything you did to achieve the best results possible
A fantastic display of exceptional customer service whilst treating our Silver work
Excellent responsiveness when you were painting our time critical parts – always get a timely response on a question
Thank you for the great technical support throughout processing our Passivation work; your teams and your suppliers were always available when we needed more information
Over the last year our partnership with SWMF has paid dividends and this can be clearly seen in the quality of the surface treatment on our parts
Great team to work with, good communication and timely delivery which has improved our turnaround
High quality technical support provided when needed, including NPI and the great work the engineering team did for us embedding the Cadmium parts
Thank you for the great technical support throughout processing our Passivation work; your teams and your suppliers were always available when we needed more information