Additive manufacturing (AM) supported by High Pressure Heat Treatment (HPHT) as a manufacturing concept have the potential not only to emulate traditional manufacturing routes for metallic and ceramic materials but also surpass these when it comes to possibilities for innovative component design, manufacturing strategy and ultimate material properties.

As for any manufacturing method, AM produced components have a high probability of having defects in the form of pores and voids, clustered or distributed in the total volume of the component. In mission critical applications such as aviation, nuclear and medical, all components, regardless of manufacturing method, are hot isostatically pressed, HIP, as a standard procedure to ensure necessary reliability of critical components.

Next level of improvements is then to combine the reliability enhancing densification operation, with all necessary heat treatment steps, to tailor the microstructure for the next step in manufacturing or as final heat treatment step in optimizing performance for the intended mission.

• Reducing manufacturing lead time
• Reducing energy consumption
• Eliminating/reducing need for separate heat treatment equipment
• Ensuring a uniform temperature though out the entire material batch
• Controlling component time at temperature in all steps
• Adding high pressure as a new parameter for the heat treatment strategy.

Additive manufacturing offers a range of possibilities for the aerospace industry. Without the limitations of traditional production methods, 3D printing allows for new designs that cut costs, reduce weight and improve reliability.

The development of new production technologies over the recent years has brought a range of possibilities to manufacturers of orthopedic implants for reconstructive joint replacement. Old truths have been challenged and new ways to increase product performance, quality and cost efficiency introduced.

Critical components made of high-performance materials subjected to fatigue loads have extreme demands on qualification and production control. Additive Manufacturing is now an increasingly important technology for implementation of bionic lightweight designs.