Velo 3D partners with PWR on heat exchanger development

Velo^3D has entered into a collaborative partnership with PWR for material development for the Sapphire 3D metal printer and serial manufacturing of state-of-the-art heat exchangers.
With bases in Australia, the U.S.A. and the UK, PWR is a globally renowned supplier of cooling solutions to F1, NASCAR and other racing series — as well as the custom-automotive OEM, military and aerospace industries.
The Velo3D and PWR collaboration sets a new standard in heat-transfer parts for racing and industrial cooling applications. PWR will have the first production Sapphire machine in the Asia Pacific region. The two companies will collaborate on aluminum alloy designs with thinner and more-complex heat exchange features and best-in-class surface finishes.
“PWR chose Velo3D after extensive testing,” says Matthew Bryson, general manager, engineering, for PWR. “The Velo^3D Sapphire printer demonstrated the ability to produce class-leading thin-wall capabilities and high-quality surfaces with zero porosity. Velo^3D and PWR share a passion for pushing the limits of technology to deliver truly disruptive, class-leading, products. We are a natural fit and look forward to building a strong partnership going forward.
“Heat exchanger weight and pressure-drop characteristics have a huge impact on performance and are significant factors in all motorsport categories,” he says. “Using additive manufacturing to print lightweight structures, enhancing performance with freedom-of-design, we have the ability to further optimize these characteristics to the customer’s requirements whilst providing the necessary cooling. The broad design capabilities and extremely high print accuracy of the Velo^3DSapphire 3D metal printer will help us optimize these various performance attributes.”
“Our expanding relationship with PWR will be one of innovation and new performance benchmarks in heat exchangers,” says Benny Buller, founder and CEO of Velo^3D. “PWR’s history of high-quality products, world-class design and testing, and customer success in the gruelling environments of motorsport, make our joint endeavour an especially exciting one. We created Velo^3D to help industrial end-users of 3D metal printing truly realize geometric freedom. We know that our technology can help PWR meet new and evolving design goals in ultra-thin-wall cooling structures.”
The economic benefits that the Sapphire system unlocks include increased revenue streams from new, highly innovative designs; the manufacture of customized parts in higher volumes; and the efficient use of additive manufacturing for direct part replacement (AM without DfAM).