The device is designed to manufacture large-size parts for the aerospace industry. The printer is being developed by several Russian universities from Moscow, Tomsk and Novosibirsk.
Vladimir Bataev, Professor of Materials Science in Mechanical Engineering Department of Mechanics and Technology Faculty of Novosibirsk State Technical University commented on the news for TASS: "The development of this printer should be completed by the end of the year: the control system, the printer itself and our process development for obtaining wires of various metals to be used in future workpieces manufacturing. Everything will be transferred to the industrial partner of the project who is preparing the site for the printer's location. By the end of this year the printer is to start production".
He added that the NSTU scientists elaborated the technology for obtaining wires of stainless steel, titanium and heat-resistant alloys. "Now we are actively working to obtain flux-cored wires containing powders of various metals. They will enable us to obtain products from metal alloys of different chemical composition when used in three-dimensional printing. Using electron beam printers it is possible to produce objects with unique properties," the scientist added.
According to Evgeny Kolubaev, the project manager, deputy director of Institute of Strength Physics and Materials Science (Tomsk), the printer is designed to manufacture large-size parts for the aerospace industry. It is partially working now, but requires certain adjustment.
This is a Ministry of Science and Higher Education project and its implementation was jointly sponsored by MSHE (250 million rubles) and the industrial partner, CJSC SESPEL Cheboksary enterprise (130 million rubles). In Russia, such printers do not operate yet; though Americans possess such printers at Sciaky, and China announced a similar production in 2017.
TASS materials have been used