Sculpteo launches on-demand MetalJet binder service to create 3D printed metal parts at scale

Sculpteo has launched HP MetalJet technology for 3D printed metal parts, offering customers across Europe and the USA fast, high quality, and cost competitive manufacturing at scale.

By leveraging this cutting edge binder jetting metal 3D printing system, Sculpteo is enhancing its metal manufacturing offering, helping enable the production of complex, high performance metal components for applications across automotive, aerospace, medical, industrial equipment and consumer products.

HP MetalJet is an advanced binder jetting metal 3D printing process that combines high throughput, exceptional detail, and competitive economics versus traditional manufacturing and other metal additive technologies. The process works by spreading a layer of metal powder and selectively jetting a liquid binder to form a ‘green’ part, building complex geometries layer by layer with no support structures required during this step. The green part is then debonded and sintered in a furnace to achieve high density and mechanical properties suitable for final use.

The resulting parts deliver consistent material properties and support complex designs previously difficult or impossible with conventional techniques such as internal channels, lattice structures, and consolidated assemblies that reduce part count and weight.

Sculpteo’s MetalJet service follows a streamlined workflow designed for flexibility and scalability:

• Digital build and jetting: the build unit is loaded with metal powder and placed into the MetalJet printer. The thermal inkjet printheads selectively deposit binder to create the green part layer by layer with high resolution and throughput.

• Debinding: once printing is complete, the green part undergoes debinding to remove a portion of the binder, preparing it for sintering. 

• Sintering and finalisation: the debound part is sintered in a controlled furnace to achieve final density and mechanical performance. 

• This efficient workflow supports one off prototypes, low to mid volume production, and large batches, empowering designers and engineers to iterate more quickly and produce real end use components on-demand. It also enables enhanced design flexibility by optimising performance and weight.

With this new service, Sculpteo continues its mission to remove barriers to advanced manufacturing using 3D printing, combining digital ease of use with industrial grade performance.

Alexandre d’Orsetti, CEO of Sculpteo, said: ‘This service marks a new era for digital manufacturing. Our integration of HP MetalJet technology means customers can now leverage production grade metal additive manufacturing to produce bespoke prototypes through to hundreds or thousands of parts without upfront investment in hardware.’