Pushing the Limits: Elementum3D’s Advanced Manufacturing of Refractory Alloys for High Performance Applications

The demand for complex, high-temperature parts made with refractory alloys is rapidly increasing across industrial sectors. Refractory metals such as rhenium (Re), tungsten (W), tantalum (Ta), niobium (Nb), molybdenum (Mo), and alloys thereof are widely used across biomedical, aerospace, space, electronics, and nuclear industries. These materials are valued for extreme high temperature capability, and selected refractories can also provide excellent corrosion resistance, electrical and thermal conductivity, high density, and radiation shielding and tolerance.

Leveraging Elementum 3D (E3D)’s 10+ years of additive manufacturing (AM) refractory expertise, we strive to inform and empower customers to innovate when developing mission-critical applications requiring refractory alloys, including rocket and advanced propulsion systems, industrial tooling, X-ray shielding, medical implants, energy production, and chemical processing equipment.

Advancement of E3D’s refractories include the execution of a Defense Advanced Research Project (DARPA) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) to develop the additive manufacturing (AM) feedstock and process capability to print rhenium using laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB). This work included property collection at high temperatures and application performance testing. The project also demonstrated greatly reduced lead times for rhenium component production compared to legacy manufacturing methods.

Beyond rhenium, E3D is developing refractory alloys with improved performance, crack-free printability, and reduced costs. Alloys of tantalum (e.g. Ta-W) and tungsten (e.g W-Re) are seeing increasing interest as high performance metals are needed for space and nuclear energy applications demanding extreme temperatures and radiation resistance. The team is also developing in-situ deoxidization and inoculation strategies to mitigate microcracking in susceptible refractory alloys. Elementum 3D is also working on next generation niobium alloys that can outperform C-103 while reducing costs by eliminating the need for expensive hafnium. Increasing market prices for refractory metals further reinforces the need for lean additive manufacturing capability to maximize usage efficiency of these high-performance materials.

To learn more about our printable refractory alloys, contact at sales@elementum3d.com or visit www.elementum3d.com.

Colorado School of Mines wins team lead of CATACS Project worth $1.3M; Elementum 3D on the project team

Congratulations Colorado School of Mines (CSM) for winning the project call awarded through the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense, Manufacturing Technology Office (OSD ManTech). America Makes awarded them to lead one of the two Corrosion of AM Components for Thermal Management projects.

The project call, Corrosion of Additive – Tested At Component Scale (CATACS) initiative is to establish and validate a framework for evaluating AM metal part corrosion testing needs, focusing on representative testing at the component scale in two critical areas: high-temperature

environments and thermal management systems.

As part of the project team, Elementum 3D honored to work with CSM to establish and validate a framework for evaluating AM metal part corrosion testing needs for the OSD ManTech office.

Full story

EVENTS ATTENDING

DEFENSE MANUFACTURING CONFERENCE: March 30-April 2 | Orlando, FL | Dr. Jason Ting

MENTOR PROTEGE SUMMIT: April 6-9 | Arlington, VA | Staff: Dr. Jeremy Iten

RAPID TCT: April 13-16 | Boston | Staff: Dr. Jacob Nuechterlein, Charlie Beecher, and Noah Mostow

• America Makes Announces Winners of $1.3M Project Call
• Apple To Further Scale Up Additive Manufacturing?
• Cobra’s 3D Printed Golf Clubs Reveal What the Technology Can Do for Sports
• How additive manufacturing is finally finding its fit
• 3D Printing Moves Deeper Into Production as Parts Near $110B by 2034
• Additive Manufacturing Is Rewriting the Rules of Reshoring
• Can Computer Simulations Make Metal AM Certification in Aviation Faster and More Affordable?
• LEAP 71 and HBD produce 200 kN 3D printed aerospike rocket engine shown at TCT Asia 2026
• A 3D printed iPhone is possible if Apple overcomes challenges with aluminum
• Ferrari Luce fails to ignite passion
• BMW Group Integrates 3D Printed Car Parts Across All Brands
• Europe’s security at risk as China tightens grip on 3D printing
• What Will Change for Post-Processing in 2026?
• Using Additive Manufacturing to Create More Sustainable Aircraft Engines
• The Impact of High-Precision 3D Printing from Prototype to Production
• Honda Is Using 3D-Printed Metal Parts in F1 Engines
• BMW Group scales additive manufacturing operations
• Additive aerospace update: GE Aerospace, Rocket Lab, Velo3D, and more
• What engineers need to understand about metal AM surface finishing
• Simulating the Seas to Make Additive Manufacturing Fleet-Ready
• Where Additive Manufacturing delivers real ROI on the factory floor
• Canada’s Project Arrow EV platforms feature Additive Manufacturing
• Nikon AM signs U.S. Defense Innovation Unit contract to reduce production bottlenecks with 3D printing
• Is AI the Next Big Shift in AM? RAPID + TCT 2026 Takes a Closer Look
• MetalBase: An Engineer’s €10,000 LPBF Machine
• NASA Successfully Tests 3D Printed Spring Mechanism in Low Earth Orbit
• US Navy installs first welded 3D printed metal part on operational Virginia-class submarine.
• When Castings Take 18 Months: How 3D Printing Helped Fix the Soo Locks
• Why Additive Manufacturing Adoption Looks the Way It Does – Part I
• Why Additive Manufacturing Adoption Looks the Way It Does — Part II
• Why Additive Manufacturing Needs a New Breed of Engineer

PermiAM is a patented technology for laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing (AM) which enables printing of porous material with controllable permeability together with fully dense material.

The process allows for easy integration of precise permeability for control of pressure and flow for applications such as fuel injection, rocket and combustion engines, wicking heat pipes, transpiration cooling, filtration, catalysis, and more. The methods allow for process-based generation of the permeable regions from a simple CAD model without the need for complex CAD modeled microporous structures.

The technology was initially matured by Elementum 3D and Masten Space Systems (now Astrobotic) with support from a NASA SBIR program. The ability to integrate regions with controlled permeability with solid material in printed parts can improve performance and reliability while simplifying manufacturing for reducing cost and time.

The innovative process introduces the capability to engineer materials with open porosity of a smaller scale than is traditionally possible in CAD-based AM methods. The technology is applicable for printable metal alloys including aluminums, superalloys, coppers, steels, and refractories. Porosity can be graded across the geometry enabling precisely tuned permeability across a region.

PermiAM for rocketry and propulsion has been described as ‘game changing’ by industry experts. During a 65 second hot fire test and a combustion temperature of 6100°F, the temperature of the PermiAM injector face remained at only 380°F after 125 seconds of operation time with zero face erosion or damage. More than 800 seconds of successful hot fire testing across multiple material sets were accumulated during the NASA SBIR project. In addition to the performance and capability gains, PermiAM enabled a 60% manufacturing cost savings for the fuel injectors as well as 92% faster lead time. 

If repeatably controlled porosity is important for your application, contact us at sales@elementum3d.com or www.elementum3d.com. 

Elementum 3D

Erie, Colorado

720-545-9016

www.elementum3d.com