ITA names Norsk Titanium as 2018 award winner

The International Titanium Association (ITA), Denver, has named Norsk Titanium, an FAA-approved supplier of aerospace-grade, additive-manufactured (AM), structural titanium components, as the recipient of its 2018 Titanium Application Development Award.

The award recognizes significant achievement toward improving and expanding the use of titanium through promotion, technical breakthroughs, outstanding research and marketing programs, and new and imaginative uses for titanium.

Norsk Titanium began delivering structural AM aerospace parts to Boeing last year. These first OEM-qualified components are now flying on the Boeing 787. Norsk uses its Rapid Plasma Deposition™ (RPD™) wire-fed process to produce near-net-shape titanium parts at its production facilities in Hønefoss, Norway, and Plattsburgh, N.Y.

The RPD™ process uses titanium wire with plasma torches to print titanium structural components on an industrial scale. According to Norsk officials, this AM technology can be used to produce parts weighing more than 100 lbs. The process is 50 to 100 times faster than powder-based AM systems and uses 25 to 50 percent less titanium than incumbent forging processes, the company says.