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Tuesday, June 24, 2008 - 11:00 AM

Ion Fusion Formation: An Alternative Solid Freeform Fabrication Process

R. J. Adams, Honeywell, Tempe, AZ

Honeywell has developed Ion Fusion Formation (IFF), a new Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) type solid freeform fabrication (SFF). One of its notable distinctions is deposition without an airtight chamber.  Progress to date has been made including equipment upgrades, improved automation, improved shielding and the ability to deposit aluminum. We will describe those advances. This is a near-net-shape hardware manufacturing process that uses a very hot ionized gas to deposit metal in small discreet amounts and ultimately build a complete part. Components can be used as-deposited or post-deposition processed to gain some improvement in properties and then final machined.  The process has low initial capital, maintenance and operating cost and is user friendly.

  Success of deposition without an airtight chamber in such reactive metals as titanium & aluminum has been a significant achievement. This opens the possibility of reducing cost for all depositions. Furthermore it paves the way for building large structures using DMD. Chemical & mechanical properties for aluminum, low alloy and 347 stainless steel, titanium, refractory metal, alloys and other materials will be presented.  In addition, we will review the requirements for shielding and its effect on properties as well progress in component manufacture will be discussed.

 SFF was developed as part of the trend toward use of net-shape and near-net-shape methods using no molds, mandrels or patterns such as powder metallurgy, plasma spraying and chemical vapor deposition processes. Using SFF, the part is built in three-dimensional space using a computer and electronic model to direct location of discreet deposits until a full part is built.

 Other forms of SFF use expensive lasers for their heat source. IFF uses inexpensive electrical energy to generate power for fusion. Thus the energy can be infinitely varied so a larger range of component size can be fabricated with the same equipment.


Summary: Honeywell has developed Ion Fusion Formation (IFF), a new Direct Metal Deposition (DMD) type solid freeform fabrication (SFF). One of its notable distinctions is deposition without an airtight chamber. Progress to date has been made including equipment upgrades, improved automation, improved shielding and the ability to deposit reactive metals like titanium & aluminum. We will present properties & shapes made to date with this process.