Industrial innovation company Aurora Labs has reached a milestone in the development of its proprietary metal 3D printing technology, with an independent evaluation validating its effectiveness and declaring the product “commercial.” Aurora has successfully completed trial printing of stainless steel components for clients including BAE Systems Maritime Australia for the Navy’s Hunter-class frigate program.
Developed metal 3D printing technology, demonstrated its effectiveness in independent evaluations, and declared the product ready for commercialization.
The move completes what Aurora calls “Milestone 4″ in the development of its proprietary multi-laser, high-power 3D printing technology for the production of stainless steel parts for the mining and oil and gas industries.
3D printing involves creating objects that are effectively coated with molten metal powder. It has the potential to disrupt the traditional bulk supply industry as it gives end users the ability to effectively “print” their own spare parts instead of having to order them from remote suppliers.
Recent milestones include the company printing test parts for BAE Systems Maritime Australia for the Australian Navy’s Hunter-class frigate program and printing a series of parts known as “oil seals” for customers of the Aurora AdditiveNow joint venture.
The Perth-based company said the test print allowed it to work with customers to explore design parameters and optimize performance. This process allowed the technical team to understand the functionality of the prototype printer and possible further design improvements.
Peter Snowsill, CEO of Aurora Labs, said: “With Milestone 4, we have demonstrated the effectiveness of our technology and printouts. It is important to note that our technology fills a gap in the mid-to-midrange high-end machine market.” This is a market segment with huge growth potential as the use of additive manufacturing expands. Now that we have expert opinion and validation from reputable third parties, it’s time to move on to the next step and commercialize A3D technology.” refining our ideas on our go-to-market strategy and optimal partnership models to bring our technology to market in the most efficient way.”
The independent review was provided by additive manufacturing consulting firm The Barnes Global Advisors, or “TBGA”, which Aurora has hired to provide a comprehensive review of the technology suite under development.
“Aurora Labs demonstrated state-of-the-art optics driving four 1500W lasers for high performance printing,” concludes TBGA. It also states that the technology will help “provide efficient and cost-effective solutions for the multi-laser systems market.”
Grant Mooney, Chairman of Aurora, said: “Barnes’ approval is the cornerstone of Milestone 4′s success. We clearly understand that an independent and third party review process must be applied to the team’s ideas so that we can be confident that we are achieving our goals. Confident. We are delighted to have received approval for local solutions for major regional industries… The work done by TBGA confirms Aurora’s place in additive manufacturing and prepares us for the next step in a series of immediate steps.”
Under Milestone 4, Aurora is seeking intellectual property protection for seven key “patent families”, including printing process technologies that provide future enhancements to existing technologies. The company is also exploring partnerships and collaborations in research and development, as well as obtaining production and distribution licenses. It states that discussions are ongoing with various organizations about partnership opportunities with inkjet printer manufacturers and OEMs seeking to enter this market.
Aurora began technology development in July 2020 after an internal reorganization and transition from the previous production and distribution model to the development of commercial metal printing technologies for licensing and partnerships.
Post time: Mar-03-2023