Can apply the photo-etching process for serial production of titanium parts.

Titanium is fast becoming the material of choice in a growing number of industrial applications, most notably the aerospace, electronics, chemical, and medical sectors. Key among the attributes that make it so attractive is its excellent strength-to-weight ratio, biocompatibility, corrosion resistance, and its extensive temperature range and low thermal expansion coefficients. But these attributes also make conventional processing methods challenging. For example it can take up to 10 to 100 times longer to shape components made from titanium than those made from aluminum alloys. In addition, production technologies that use mechanical abrasion result in high levels of waste titanium material. Production methods for processing titanium therefore have to be fast and minimize waste to be considered economical.

In 2012, Precision Micro was acquired by leading aerospace, defense and electronics giant Meggitt plc., which opened up new possibilities for the company. One development was the photo-etching process for the volume production of components produced from sheet titanium and its alloys, made possible by a 1 million euros investment in the plant in 2014.

Today, the company is able to offer scalable production of photo-etched titanium parts. 

Photo-etching is known for producing burr-free parts with clean profiles and no heat-affected zones, and stress-free parts with metal properties remaining unaffected. As the process relies on digital tooling, the process allows for multiple design iterations quickly and at low cost. The process is fast and economical with lead-times measured in days, not weeks, and it is precise down to the most exacting micro levels.

Product designers and OEMs looking to take advantage of this new process are encouraged to engage Precision Micro early in the development stage of the product life cycle to ensure design for manufacture, and maximum cost efficiency.