Materials Development and Consultancy

We supply high-performance powders engineered for use in additive manufacturing, thermal spraying and powder metallurgy technologies. Our materials development and consultancy services co-develop hardmetal powder with your engineers from concept to coating application.

What We Offer

We can support your development journey from composition formulation and prototyping to low-volume pilot run and full production:

Custom alloys and ceramic-metal composites for thermal spraying and laser cladding.
Alternative materials to reduce use of critical minerals or hazardous elements.
In-situ alloying powders developed for metal additive manufacturing.
Public grant funding collaborative R&D with industry and research partners.

We offer a comprehensive solution that mitigates risk, accelerates development, and maximises your return on investment.

How We Can Support

The development of hardmetal powders involves a complex interplay of metallurgy, materials science and processing technology. It requires careful control over:

Powder properties: Optimising particle size distribution, morphology and chemistry for achieving a uniform, high-density coating.
Process control: The manufacturing route, from atomisation to sintering, directly impacts the final product’s performance and cost.
Application requirements: Matching the powder composition and characteristics to specific coating techniques, such as thermal spray or additive manufacturing, is key to success.

Our Development Strategy

We combine strategic consultancy – providing deep material science and metallurgical expertise – with project collaborations that align your team directly with our engineers and network of specialists. This ensures that every step of the development process is informed by both theoretical knowledge and practical application, resulting in a more effective and reliable end-product.

Feasibility Study

Analyse the technical and commercial viability of new powder compositions for your specific coating or applications.

Material Formulation

Co-develop with your engineers to select the ideal composition and morphology that meet your coating requirements.

Prototyping

Access to our facilities allows for prototyping and validation of new powder formulations, reducing risks and accelerating time to market.

Pilot Production

Lab-scale production run to validate and refine the powder manufacturing process prior to full-scale manufacturing.

Knowledge Transfer

Equip your teams with the materials knowledge and skills needed to sustain efficient and repeatable coating performance.

Collaborative Innovation

We partner with you to create custom, cutting-edge solutions for your unique coating and applications. Together with universities, research institutes and industrial partners, collaborative projects are often delivered through:

Publicly funded partnership
Direct customer projects
Licensing opportunities (for in-situ alloying powders)

Sustainability by Design

Sustainability is embedded in how we approach materials. We actively explore compositions that:

Minimise or remove strategic or supply-risk materials like cobalt and tungsten.
Replace these with options such as TiC, Ti(C,N), CrC, FeAl, NiCr etc.
Reduce environmental impact while maintaining or improving performance.

For example, in a public funding project – collaborating with a UK university and a coating service provider – we are developing novel powder compositions (W,Ti)C-CoCrFeNiCu and Ti(C,N)-NiCr to support cleaner, more sustainable downhole boring tools.