HP Additive Manufacturing and Hyperion Materials & Technologies have signed a strategic preferred partner agreement for tungsten carbide additive manufacturing. Hyperion has installed an HP Metal Jet S100 binder jetting printer in Barcelona, so production parts and prototypes are now offered through Hyperion. HP plans to show the technology at Formnext.
Key facts
Agreement type: strategic preferred partner agreement between HP and Hyperion
Hyperion installed an HP Metal Jet S100 in Barcelona, Spain
New CarbiForm powders are made for binder jetting
HP plans to present the technology at Formnext
Context Binder jetting glues metal or ceramic powder with a liquid binder layer by layer, and the printed part is then sintered in a furnace to reach its final density.
Of all the materials binder jetting can process, cemented carbide is the most natural fit, because carbide parts are already made by pressing and sintering. That is why I see this as a sound setup: the printer sits with a company whose core skill is the furnace, and in binder jetting the furnace decides the outcome, not the print head. For a buyer, the questions move to the sintered part. How is shrinkage compensated on your geometry, and what tolerance comes out of the furnace before grinding? Are density, hardness and toughness reported for printed parts or for a conventional grade? Diamond grinding of carbide is costly, so the case rests on how close to final shape the part arrives. In my experience, the only convincing evidence is wear life measured on your part in your application, so budget a pilot for that before talking about series volumes.
The deal pairs HP's binder jetting platform with Hyperion's know-how in tungsten carbide manufacturing, sintering and finishing. Customers get one route from application development and qualification to serial production. Hyperion has installed an HP Metal Jet S100 at its Barcelona plant, which makes commercial tungsten carbide production on the platform available through Hyperion.
Which parts are targeted
The partners plan to work with customers to find and qualify applications where printed tungsten carbide has technical and economic advantages. They point to designs that are hard or uneconomical to make conventionally, such as intricate shapes, merged assemblies and customised parts. Shorter development cycles and better material use are also expected. The process runs on CarbiForm, a new range of print-ready tungsten carbide powders from Hyperion made for binder jetting.
What it means
For tool, wear-part and die makers in the EU, the news adds a possible service route to printed tungsten carbide with a qualification path attached, without buying a printer. The reports give no prices, part sizes or property data, so the business case and the qualification effort per part remain open. Sintering shrinkage and furnace work are typical cost drivers for binder jetting, so pilot parts and a direct comparison with current ground or pressed carbide parts are the realistic first step.
Frequently asked questions
What did HP and Hyperion agree?
They signed a strategic preferred partner agreement to widen access to tungsten carbide additive manufacturing, covering production parts and rapid prototyping for industrial customers.
Where will the parts be printed?
On an HP Metal Jet S100 that Hyperion has installed at its production site in Barcelona, Spain.
Which powder is used?
CarbiForm, a new Hyperion powder range developed for binder jetting.