Honeywell Aerospace, a leader in aerospace innovation and design, is testing high-temperature alloys from Alloyed for aerospace applications because the materials are not prone to cracking at extreme temperatures. This partnership leverages the Alloys By Design brand, which is a series of metals developed by Oxford University researchers. Honeywell is currently testing Alloyed’s ABD-900AM material to determine its suitability for full production runs.

Alloyed, formerly OxMet, is a digital metals specialist that develops research from Oxford University. It produces a full line of materials that can be optimized to suit clients’ needs.

Honeywell Aerospace has a long heritage of innovation that spans more than a century. The company has one of the industry’s broadest and most advanced portfolios including world-class engines, cockpits, cabin design, wireless connectivity and enterprise performance management services.

Honeywell first engaged with metal AM processes in 2007 when the company had several prototype parts manufactured by external vendors. Over the ensuing years, the company has continued to assess and implement the technology for applications where there is a need for rapidly manufactured metal parts, including for testbed components. In 2014, led by the efforts of Engineering Fellow Donald Godfrey, the company opened its first $5 million AM facility in Phoenix, AZ, USA, with a focus on L-PBF and electron beam PBF technologies. In the same year, AM facilities were also opened in Bangalore and the Czech Republic.

Today, the Honeywell AM operations have grown significantly in both size and capacity and incorporate tensile, LCF, and creep testing equipment, powder characterization equipment, and a vacuum furnace for stress relief and heat treatment. In Arizona, more L-PBF machines were added in 2020, and now the lab is fully equipped to manage end-to-end powder and mechanical characterization, pre-production builds, and a full range of R&D activities.

Alloyed’s ABD 900AM material is an age-hardenable, nickel-based superalloy designed specifically for use as feedstock in the L-PBF process. It is optimized for environmental resistance and high-temperature tensile strength, with a working temperature range up to 900°C (1652°F) in its age-hardened state. ABD 900AM not only offers a higher operating temperature but also significant long-term stability.

Exhibiting excellent creep strength, ABD 900AM has also demonstrated superior resistance to cracking during manufacture and heat treatment, enabling complex part design. It is designed to be free of solidification, liquidation and strain-age cracks, and showcases exceptional printability for a 40% γ’-phase strengthened alloy. The ABD 900AM alloy also shows a high as-printed part density of >99.9%.

The results of the work between Alloyed and Honeywell show that ABD 900AM is an alloy that demonstrates great potential for high-temperature applications. The material welds and fuses extremely well, particularly when compared with other high-temperature nickel alloys. While ABD 900AM is not a replacement for CM Mar-247 in most cases due to the oxidation capabilities, it does exhibit very good mechanical properties at high temperatures when compared with Mar 247 or IN792 or IN713 or IN738.