Solid-State Additive Manufacturing

Inovati is leading a paradigm shift in the Additive Manufacturing (AM) industry by transitioning its impact consolidation Kinetic Metallization (KM) process to an advanced and superior 3-D manufacturing technology. When integrated with CAD/CAM, Inovati characterizes this new technology as Solid-state Additive Manufacturing (SSAM). This innovative spray deposition process provides unique opportunities for development of a 3-D fabrication technique with material properties not currently feasible with conventional fusion-based AM processes. In particular, the low temperature attribute of the process enables fabrication of metallic and composite parts with metallurgically uniform properties, while fusion-based processes tend to be unstable or degrade at high melting temperatures. The SSAM deposition rates associated with Kinetic Metallization which permits an order of magnitude faster fabrication rate of parts when compared to many conventional AM methods. The paper will present the developments of the technology to date and the potential applications.