Metalysis, a UK-based titanium specialist and spinout from Cambridge University, has become part of a £1.5m ($2.3m) project to create 3D printed aerospace components.
The project, led by UK-based aerospace components company GKN Aerospace with component designer, manufacturer and installer Phoenix Scientific Industries and Leeds University, aims to created 3D printed aerospace components. The £1.5m investment comes from the Aerospace Technology Institute in the UK.
Dion Vaughan, chief executive of Metalysis, said: “This project will demonstrate its potential in the additive layer manufacturing (3D printing) of metal components, bringing down the cost of production, manufacturing and increasing environmental performance of aerospace and beyond.”
Metalysis has raised £12.2m from Australia-based mineral sands resource company Iluka in February 2014. In March 2005 it raised £5m in its series A round from UK-based venture capital firms Seven Spires Investments and 3i, and a syndicate comprising UK-based investment firm Generics Asset Management, UK-based fund The Coalfields Enterprise Fund and UK-based angel investment group Cambridge Capital Group.
Russ Dunn, senior vice-president engineering and technology for the Areospace Technology Institue, said: “To date research into additive manufacturing has focused largely on evolving the processes we will require to enter full scale production but if these processes are, to make a significant breakthrough, the quality, repeatability and cost of the material we use will be critical.”
