Sciaky, Inc.

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Sciaky, Inc. is an American manufacturer of metal 3D printing systems and industrial welding systems, founded in 1939 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It specializes in electron beam welding systems and services for aerospace manufacturers. [1]

Contents

In 2009, Sciaky entered the 3D Printing field with its electron beam additive manufacturing (EBAM) process for large metal parts and applications. [2] In 2011, this technology was selected to produce [3] titanium components for the F-35 Fighter Jet and, later, satellite propellant tanks. [4] Sciaky's EBAM systems became available for commercial purchase in September 2014. [5] Sciaky is a subsidiary of manufacturing and repair company Phillips Service Industries, Inc. [6] [7]

History

1930s

Sciaky Brothers, Inc. is founded in 1939. [7]

1940s

Sciaky is a key supplier of resistance welding systems [8] used to make warplanes for the U.S. military during World War II.

1950s

Sciaky produces its first Electron Beam (EB) welding system in 1957.

1960s

Sciaky becomes a major supplier of EB welding systems used to make F14 jets in 1969 [9]

1970s

DEC PDP and Data General Nova mini-computer based weld control systems

1980s

DG Eclipse mini-computer based MarkVII weld control system.

Acquired by Allegheny International in 1982.

Dual VME M68000 based W2000 weld control system.

Acquired by Ferranti International in 1988.

1990s

Phillips Service Industries, Inc. acquires Sciaky in 1994.

2000s

Sciaky begins research on a new manufacturing process called Electron Beam Free Form Fabrication (EBFFF) in 2000.

Single VME x86 board W20x0 weld control system

In 2007, Sciaky earns a contract with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Langley Research Center [10] to create a new EB gun system in the U.S. incorporating the EBFFF system and tested on a microgravity research aircraft and in space. Engineers from NASA assisted in providing supporting hardware to the gun.

In 2009, Sciaky launches its Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing process as a service-only option.

2010s

In 2011, Sciaky was selected by the Department of Defense (DOD), for the Mentor-Protege Program by Lockheed Martin Aeronautics with the focus of this agreement being the additive manufacturing of titanium structural components for Lockheed Martin's F-35 aircraft program.

In 2012, Sciaky entered a partnership with Penn State University, [11] via DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) funding, to advance Direct Digital Manufacturing technology (DDM) with the goal of advancing and deploying DDM technology for highly engineered and critical metallic systems to the Department of Defense (DOD) and U.S. industry.

In 2014, Sciaky begins selling its EBAM systems [12] on the open market.

As of 2019, the company had four EBAM systems: EBAM 300, 300, 150, and 110. [7]

2020s

In 2020, Sciaky deposited more than 12,000 lbs. of titanium with its EBAM systems. [13]

Metal 3D printing system

The company’s EBAM process relies on a wire-based directed energy deposition (DED) process. The systems can print parts from 8 inches to 19 feet long and can deposit up to 25 lbs. of metal per hour. The system can be used with titanium, tantalum, tungsten, Inconel, niobium, copper-nickel, aluminum, molybdenum, zirconium alloy, and stainless steel. Sciaky’s EBAM system uses closed-loop real-time adaptive controls that self-adjusts the metal deposition. [13]

See also

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Cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) is a particular application of cold spraying, able to fabricate freestanding parts or to build features on existing components. During the process, fine powder particles are accelerated in a high-velocity compressed gas stream, and upon the impact on a substrate or backing plate, deform and bond together creating a layer. Moving the nozzle over a substrate repeatedly, a deposit is building up layer-by-layer, to form a part or component. If an industrial robot or computer controlled manipulator controls the spray gun movements, complex shapes can be created. To achieve a 3D shape, there are two different approaches. First, to fix the substrate and move the cold spray gun/nozzle using a robotic arm; the second one is to move the substrate with a robotic arm, and keep the spray-gun nozzle fixed. There is also a possibility to combine these two approaches either using two robotic arms or other manipulators. The process always requires a substrate and uses only powder as raw material.

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References

  1. ↑ "Standardizing the Art of Electron-Beam Welding" Archived 2016-12-21 at the Wayback Machine Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Electron Beam Additive Manufacturing Technology" Sciaky, Inc. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. ↑ "Lockheed Martin And Sciaky, Inc. Enter Mentor-Protégé Agreement With Initial Focus On Electron Beam Manufacturing Of F-35 Parts" Retrieved 3 September 2014. Lockheed Martin.
  4. ↑ "Lockheed Leaning on 3-D Printing To Bring Tank Work In-house" Space News. Retrieved 10 June 2015
  5. ↑ Thryft, Ann. "Video: Sciaky to Sell Its Huge Metals 3D Printers" Design News. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  6. ↑ "Sciaky announces increased demand for its DED Additive Manufacturing solutions". Metal Additive Manufacturing. 2020-07-07. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  7. 1 2 3 "Sciaky Inc. joins ADAPT to develop metal 3D printing". 3D Printing Industry. 2019-03-13. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
  8. ↑ "Welding Timeline Years 1900-1950" A History of Welding. Retrieved 10 June 2015
  9. ↑ "EB Welding the F-14". Welding Journal. Retrieved 10 June 2015
  10. ↑ "Sciaky Earns NASA Contract for Electron Beam Gun System" Welding Journal. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  11. ↑ McNally, David. "DARPA seeks advanced manufacturing standards", 10 July 2014. Retrieved 3 September 2014.
  12. ↑ "Sciaky Inc. to Introduce EBAM Machines to the Market by September" Engineering.com.
  13. 1 2 "Sciaky's EBAM® Metal 3D Printing Solution deposited over 12,000 pounds of Titanium in 2020". MANUFACTUR3D. 2021-02-09. Retrieved 2021-04-15.
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