Globally Distributed Manufacturing with Metal AM

In 2021, IMI Critical and Velo3D produced and deployed a metal choke valve—using metal additive manufacturing (AM)—with a North American oil and gas company. Now, the two companies are working together to solve the issues of production scalability and readiness that many AM platforms have.

Caption: Two of the 12 printed choke valves. Credit: Velo3D

This project aims to prove that Velo3D Sapphire printers could reprint the choke valve and produce the same parts within specification across different printers, using the same print file, without further development efforts

After the project was carried out using the steps outlined by IMI Critical and Velo3D, data for the 12 printed parts, two parts from each of the six production locations, is complete. According to the companies, their results demonstrated that “all the parts, both metallurgically and functionally, met IMI’s design and performance specifications.

“We now have the confidence to print that same print file at any of these suppliers in the future,” said Zach Walton, director of technical business development at Velo3D. “With the Digital Product Definition, spelled out in API20S as a collection of data required to reproduce the additively manufactured component, unchanged from the 2021 project, this demonstrated the ability to not have to requalify or redevelop.”