Fabrisonic has had several inquiries lately about the use of tantalum in 3D Printing.  Fabrisonic has used tantalum in the past for cladding.  Tantalum has a very high resistance to corrosion and thus can be used to coat components that will operate in a corrosive environment.  It turns out that tantalum has many other exciting properties.  Several customers have asked if we can incorporate tantalum into aluminum aerospace structures for radiation shielding.  Tantalum is a good absorber of neutrons and a thin layer of tantalum can protect sensitive electronics.  This has many space applications, but we have also found several terrestrial applications for neutron shielding.

Below you can find a feasibility plate where Fabrisonic 3D printed layers of 6061 aluminum and also printed a .008″ thick foil of tantalum.  This proves that tantalum can easily be integrated into 3D printed aluminum structures for applications like satellites.

 

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