TRUMPF Qualifies 6K Additive Titanium Metal Powder on the TruPrint Systems for Additive Manufacturing

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Apr 02, 2025, 08:18 ET

Qualification adds powder made from sustainable feedstock sources to TRUMPF's qualified partners

BURGETTSTOWN, PA., April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Accelerating its global leadership in sustainable production of advanced materials for additive manufacturing, 6K Additive and the German technology company TRUMPF, today announced that TRUMPF has qualified 6K Additive's titanium metal powder for use in the TruPrint additive manufacturing systems. Both organizations have a strong customer base in aerospace as well as initiatives toward sustainability. This new qualification helps strengthen the opportunity for customers to leverage the premium titanium powder for their applications with the assurance that printed parts will meet their most stringent requirements and will have the lowest environmental impact.

"At TRUMPF we are dedicated to making our customer's experience with our TruPrint systems deliver the highest level of performance and this includes the powder they use for their metal parts," said Dennis Pede, Material engineer and scientist at TRUMPF. "TruPrint systems are open systems, allowing our customers to use the powder of their choice. However, for optimal process conditions and material properties, we recommend suitable material powders and work closely with our partners. Additionally, more and more our customers are asking us for metrics on the environmental footprint of our machines and the process. Having 6K Additive's titanium sustainable powder added as an approved qualified powder, ensures customers get the quality assurance with the added value of driving down their CO2 footprint."

Frank Roberts, President of 6K Additive added, "We continue to hear from our aerospace and defense customers asking us to help lower the barriers for qualification for their applications. The collaboration between our two companies did just that by ensuring the machine and powder are qualified ahead of their own internal qualification, which will streamline the customer's process into production faster. We are excited to work with the TRUMPF team on titanium and other powders in our portfolio going forward."

6K Additive is the world's first producer of AM powder made from highly sustainable sources – offering a full suite of premium metal and alloy powders including nickel, titanium, copper, stainless steel, and refractory metals such as tungsten, niobium, and rhenium. Backed by the award-winning UniMelt® production-scale microwave plasma process, the technology precisely spheroidizes metal powders while controlling the chemistry and porosity of the final product with zero contamination and high-throughput. An independent LCA study (click here to download) validates that the approach makes it possible to achieve reductions in energy usage and carbon emissions of 90% for its nickel-based alloys and a 75% reduction in titanium alloys.

Companies interested in working with 6K Additive regarding their specific powder requirements are urged to visit 6K Additive's website at 6KAdditive.com.

6K press releases are available here: https://www.6kinc.com/about/news/

About 6K
With sustainability at its core, 6K has developed UniMelt®, a proprietary advanced microwave plasma production system, to transform engineered materials into revolutionary products that advance industries across additive manufacturing, renewable energy, aerospace, consumer electronics, and more. 6K represents 6000 degrees, both the temperature of the operation of UniMelt®, the world's only microwave production scale plasma system, and the temperature of the sun's surface. 6K was founded in North Andover, Massachusetts.

The 6K Energy division is focused on the production of low-cost, sustainable, and domestically produced battery material accelerating the pace of battery production and adoption of electric vehicles. The 6K Additive division specializes in sustainably sourced, AM metal powders production and reclamation, using a proprietary milling and cleaning process that ensures contamination-free, high-quality powders. For more information, visit www.6Kinc.com.

About TRUMPF
TRUMPF is a high-tech company offering manufacturing solutions in the fields of machine tools and laser technology. It drives digital connectivity in manufacturing through consulting, platform products and software. TRUMPF is one of the technology and market leaders in highly versatile machine tools for sheet metal processing and in the field of industrial lasers.

In 2023/24, TRUMPF employed 19,018 people and generated sales of 5.2 billion euros. With about 90 companies, the TRUMPF Group is represented in nearly every European country as well as in North America, South America and Asia. The company has production facilities in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, the Czech Republic, the United States, Mexico and China.