Rosatom adapts RusMelt 3D printers for copper printing

Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.uz) — Rosatom's Fuel Division has expanded the capabilities of its domestic industrial 3D printing equipment, successfully mastering the production of components made from copper and copper alloys on its RusMelt line of 3D printers. The development opens up new applications for additive manufacturing across energy, electronics, electrical engineering, aerospace, and other high-tech sectors.

Tests conducted by the Additive Technologies business unit of Rosatom's Fuel Division utilized copper powder on industrial RusMelt installations. The equipment operates via Selective Laser Melting (SLM) technology, forming components layer-by-layer by melting metal powder using laser radiation.

Previously, commercial RusMelt installations were primarily used to process metal powder compositions based on stainless steel, heat-resistant steel, and titanium. Mastering copper significantly broadens the range of materials compatible with domestic Russian additive equipment.

Copper processing presents technological challenges during laser melting due to the metal's high reflectivity, which hinders laser absorption, and its high thermal conductivity, which rapidly dissipates heat from the processing zone. Engineers at Rosatom's Moscow-based Center for Additive Technologies successfully identified selective laser melting parameters that deliver components with low porosity and high thermal conductivity.

The technology enables the manufacturing of complex geometric components that are difficult, costly, or technically impossible to produce using traditional machining methods. Key applications include heat exchangers for power electronics, components for engines and generators, induction coils, electrodes, and conductive elements, as well as tooling featuring internal conformal cooling channels.

Transitioning to additive manufacturing also offers economic advantages by reducing material consumption compared to traditional subtractive machining, while enabling rapid customization for low-volume or specialized component production without extensive tooling.

Ilya Kavelashvili, director of the Additive Technologies business unit at Rosatom's Fuel Division, stated that the technology enhances the market competitiveness of RusMelt equipment by facilitating entry into new market segments, allowing industrial clients to manufacture complex heat exchangers, current-carrying components, and inductors while shortening production cycles.