Developing a "3D metal printer" for shaping large-sized metals, Alloya Technology company contributes to the localization of the defense industry. Established in 2020, the company develops its own unique technology and provides commercial parts production services to many sectors, especially to aviation and defense industry companies in Turkey. With this 3D printer, material expenditures are significantly reduced and time is saved. Alloya Technology Founder Mehmet Çetinkaya gave information about the contributions of 3D printer and a production with this concept to the defense industry.
Parts needed by the defense, aerospace and aerospace industries are produced
Stating that they produce metal parts in a volume of 3×1×1 meters with a 1,5D metal printer that prints in large sizes, Mehmet Çetinkaya said, “We usually carry out large-scale production of alloys such as titanium, nickel and stainless steel. Especially large-sized parts needed by the aerospace and defense industries come to the fore in the sector in this sense.”
“We produce various rocket parts”
“For example, we produce rocket nozzle parts from metal requested by our customers. In other words, it is an exhaust-like part that provides the exit of hot gases at the bottom of the rocket. Raw material supply and part production is a product that requires serious time. These special metals are difficult to manufacture by conventional methods. Therefore, when produced with this method, both the process progresses faster and the amount of waste is minimized,” Çetinkaya said, adding that they also produce different types of rocket parts.
It reduces the 3-month production process to 3 days!
Explaining the savings in material and time with the printer with an example, Çetinkaya said, “For example, one of our defense industry companies produces 150 tons of titanium sawdust annually. You don't want to throw away a gram of metal that costs $60 per kilogram. Therefore, the use of 3D printing method provides a serious advantage in order to minimize this waste chip. In addition to all these, we also rule out processes that require molds, because when there is a mold, the processes must be suitable for mass production. For this reason, we have a serious advantage in products with less quantity, not mass production; because producing the mold itself is already much more than the cost of the main product. If there is an annual production of less than 100 pieces, in fact, we have completely eliminated the mold cost and mold production time there. Thus, we can produce the final part quickly. For example, we reduced 3 processes to 7-21 processes and a 7-month process to 1 days by producing a part in 2 hours, one of which was produced by going through 3 different processes in 3 months with traditional methods.”
“We are working to contribute to our country's ability to export value-added products”
Mehmet Çetinkaya, who shared his future goals, said, “We attach importance to value-added production. Developed countries that benefit from the blessings of technology do not have the smart and hardworking young people our country has. These young people can agilely transform practical solutions into permanent values. As long as we continue to work patiently, take the right steps, work with sustainable models. I fully believe that such a young group of entrepreneurs who are already exporting will have value-added sales all over the world in the future.”