Airtech, Ascent Aerospace partner to accelerate AM tooling adoption
A combination of Airtech’s 3D printing materials and Ascent’s production capabilities aim to support increased use of composite additive tooling in spaces like defense and aerospace.
A trim tool printed by Ascent using Airtech’s Dahltram S-150CF ABS material. Source (All Images) | Airtech Advanced Materials Group
On Sept. 10, specialty-formulated additive manufacturing (AM) materials company Airtech Advanced Materials Group (Huntington Beach, Calif., U.S.) and Ascent Aerospace (Macomb, Mich., U.S.), an expert in aerospace tooling production, have entered into an exclusive supply agreement.
Through this partnership, Airtech will support Ascent’s AM tooling business in the commercial and defense aerospace sectors, providing technical and business development support. In return, Ascent will commit to the exclusive use of Airtech resin products for large-format AM (LFAM).
“We are excited to collaborate with the team at Ascent Aerospace to support the initiative to supply high-performance, large format printed tooling in some of the most challenging applications in the industry,” says Gregory Haye, director of additive manufacturing at Airtech Advanced Materials Group. “Ascent has been a long-time customer of Airtech, and we look forward to growing this relationship while helping the market adopt this technology.”
“With the vast number of ongoing and forecasted development programs moving at an accelerated pace, Ascent implemented AM capabilities to provide a cost-effective, rapid tooling solution. However, it became imperative for us to have an expert in material science walk alongside
us,” explains Dan Friz, vice president of business development and sales at Ascent Aerospace. “This agreement with Airtech ensures Ascent’s customers’ technical requirements are achieved with their material expertise, allowing Ascent to focus on delivering a tooling solution that meets the program’s cost and schedule expectations.”
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