Scalmalloy®, a high strength aluminum-magnesium-scandium alloy is officially added to the Formula 1 regulations as an approved material for additive manufacturing.
Taufkirchen, Germany – July 2nd, 2020 – APWORKS, a leading industrial provider of 3D printing services and products, is pleased to announce that the high-strength aluminum alloy Scalmalloy® is officially approved by the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile) and added to the Formula 1 regulations as one of the additive metal materials.
Scalmalloy® is an Aluminum-Magnesium-Scandium alloy that impresses with its mechanical properties when being processed in Additive Manufacturing. The aluminum alloy comes with a very high tensile strength (UTS 520 MPa) and yield strength (480 MPa). Because of the low density of the material, it exhibits excellent specific properties, far exceeding those of other aluminium alloys.
Scalmalloy® also retains excellent ductility (Elongation 13%) and is naturally very corrosion resistant as well as demonstrating a high degree of microstructural stability with respect to thermal ageing. This unique combination of material properties has its origin in the fact that it was specifically developed for additive manufacturing and exploits the characteristics of the manufacturing process, making it world’s first material specifically developed for additive manufacturing.
The material was developed by APWORKS together with Airbus for aerospace applications. The combination of excellent material properties makes Scalmalloy® the choice material for highperformance applications, especially in the motorsports industry. High strength and low density enable topology optimized lightweight structural components which can enable better mass distribution to be achieved within the regulation weight limit.
Coupling the outstanding material properties with the design freedom provided by the additive manufacturing processes can enable high performance parts with a level of functionality previously impossible to achieve.
“We are proud to see Scalmalloy® in the list of approved materials. Scalmalloy® still stands head and shoulders above all other additively-processable aluminum alloys on the market, and due to its aerospace pedigree its performance is backed up by all the evidence necessary to give confidence in design. Its extraordinary balance of strength, ductility and density makes it the material of choice in high-performance applications. We are already looking forward to broadening the applications further, as our Motorsport customers gain confidence to apply Scalmalloy® in increasingly critical applications” says Jonathan Meyer, Chief Product Officer at APWORKS.
About APWORKS GmbH:
APWORKS is a leading industrial provider of 3D printing services and products. The independent company is part of Airbus and makes proven aerospace technologies accessible. Focusing on metal 3D printing (Additive Manufacturing) APWORKS specializes in designing, developing and manufacturing products which exploit the design freedom, production agility and disruptive potential of Additive Manufacturing. Customers from across a wide range of industries benefit from consultancy services and manufacturing expertise. For further information see: www.apworks.de
Source: APWORKS GmbH
