Lieutenant Colonel Peter J. Stambersky, USA Retired and Director of Federal Affairs at 6K, said, "My experience from my service in the Army provides me with a unique perspective of the agreement. Clearly, there is a benefit to 6K Additive, but, more importantly, this agreement provides the US Army DEVCOM with access to critical materials for additive manufacturing derived from feedstock right here in the US. This agreement further establishes 6K Additive as a trusted partner for powder and as a source for reprocessing retired components from military aircraft and vehicles delivering a closed-loop, secure material supply to the US Army."
6K's UniMelt® plasma production system is uniquely capable of converting high-value metal scrap of numerous forms into high performance metal powders for additive manufacturing, metal injection molding, and other powder metallurgy production techniques. By doing so, they provide, for the first time, access to a vast domestic supply of strategically important metals and alloys such as nickel and titanium from machine shops and boneyards, as well as refractory powders such as C103, tungsten, and others that are critical to the mission of the modern warfighter. The patented 6K Additive process cleans, prepares, and spheroidizes scrap alloys into high-quality powders with performance superior to atomization technologies. This process will provide the US military with a secure, traceable domestic supply of critical materials while eliminating unexpected performance anomalies due to questionable sourcing from foreign supply.
The US DoD will benefit in several ways through working with 6K Additive:
Reducing the risk of dependence on foreign supply
- As there is constrained domestic availability of strategic metals such as superalloys, the ability to utilize materials from the nation's boneyards and machine shops, such as end of life components, shop scrap, or used powders and convert them into high-quality materials, provides the US military with a secure domestic supply of critical metals.
A closed-loop enhanced security
- Of crucial concern is the quality and consistency of foreign-sourced materials. Recycling previously qualified DoD parts, shop scrap, and used powders creates a closed loop for material with the quality being known and traceable. Unexpected performance anomalies due to questionable sourcing can be prevented.
Advanced systems faster to the field
- High quality recycled materials will help the DoD develop and adopt advanced additive manufacturing, metal injection molding, and powder forging processes more quickly, allowing them to create parts with novel functionality, reduce engineering cycles and accelerate "make-to-fly" cycles. This translates to enhanced lethality with reduced costs.
Managing costs while maximizing quality
- Using already certified scrap as raw material dramatically reduces the material cost of goods for manufactured parts and ensures they meet the desired specification.
Notes for Editors
6K press releases are available here: https://www.6kinc.com/6k-inc-news-room/
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.6KAdditive.com.
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MEDIA CONTACT: Bruce Bradshaw, Chief Marketing Officer, 6K Inc., Email: Email Contact Phone: +1 603 689 4597 |
