AP&C to Produce F357 Aluminum Alloy Powder

A GE Additive subsidiary, AP&C, announced that it will begin production of aluminum alloy F357 powder in the first quarter of 2019 and will be able to make customer deliveries starting in April 2019. Aluminum alloy F357 powder will be produced using AP&C's proprietary Advanced Plasma Atomization (APA™) at the company's recently expanded facilities in Saint-Eustache, Canada. This new, fully automated facility has a production capacity of 1,000 tons. For the reliability of aluminum additive manufacturing, F357 powder has properties similar to aluminum-titanium and exhibits the same good processability, high flowability, high packing density, low porosity and high purity characteristics as AP&C's aluminum alloy APA™ titanium powders. This new powder aligns well with AP&C's existing product range and experience working with reactive and low-density metals. "Adding F357 to our portfolio is excellent. Our customers want us to provide aluminum solutions to overcome the challenges they are currently facing. We are confident that we have developed a solution to overcome these challenges," said AP&C President and Chief Executive Officer Alain Dupont, adding "The modular cell-based structure of our new factory in Saint-Eustache allows us to respond quickly to the demands of a rapidly evolving industry." Aluminum F357 alloy is seeing increasingly strong demand from customers, particularly in the aerospace and automotive sectors. This material, which provides high strength and durability as well as good weldability, is known to offer excellent corrosion resistance and thermal conductivity.