Kennametal Joins GE Additive Beta Partner Program

Kennametal is the latest member to join GE Additive’s Beta Partner Program. As part of the program, Kennametal will work to further advance its binder jet printing capabilities in cemented tungsten carbide as it continues to scale its end-to-end metal additive manufacturing (AM) solutions from metal powders through to the production of 3D printed parts and tooling.

According to the company, Kennametal’s metal 3D printed parts have already gained wide customer adoption across a variety of industries, including oil and gas, energy, industrial processing and transportation. Kennametal will work with GE Additive to identify, design and scale specific applications for serial production on GE’s binder Jet system to leverage Kennametal’s proprietary cemented tungsten carbide additive materials.

Kennametal is a provider of tungsten carbide and Stellite (cobalt chrome alloy) alloys, which it says are known for their wear, heat and corrosion performance. The company says it is focused on optimizing these high-performance, wear- and corrosion-resistant material families for additive platforms to produce fully finished components with complex designs, shorter lead times and improved performance which are not possible through traditional manufacturing. When combined with AM, these proprietary material systems are said to offer a step change in wear and corrosion solutions for some of the most challenging applications.

“Customers are increasingly seeking our 3D printed tungsten carbide and Stellite solutions to help them maximize their productivity in challenging applications when wear and corrosion resistance are critical,” says Jay Verellen, general manager, Kennametal Additive Manufacturing. “Our work with GE Additive on binder Jet solutions will enable further scaling of our operations to meet strong customer demand — and extend our leadership in proprietary material solutions for additive.”

GE Additive says it is continuing to develop its binder jet solution to make AM a reality for serial production, targeting millions of parts per year and beyond. Key to that development is ongoing, hands-on input from members of GE Additive’s Binder Jet Beta Partner Program.

“By hands-on, we don’t mean tinkering or experimenting. We work closely with our beta customers as they develop their own, real-world business cases, applications and parts,” says Brian Birkmeyer, GE Additive’s product line leader for binder jet. “To them, it is important that our solution is not only mature and scalable but is capable, complete and aligns to their product innovation strategies and meets production volume needs.”