Amaero Scales U.S. Metal Powder Production for Additive Manufacturing

What Amaero Does in Tennessee

Amaero runs its U.S. manufacturing out of McDonald, Tennessee, where it produces titanium and refractory alloy powders for metal 3D printing. The company uses Electrode Induction Gas Atomization, or EIGA, systems to turn raw metal into the highly spherical powder that powder bed fusion and other AM processes demand.

The facility now operates three EIGA atomizers. Two are dedicated to titanium alloys, one to refractory materials. Together they give Amaero annual capacity of roughly 480 metric tons of titanium powder and 200 metric tons of refractory alloy powder.

Why Domestic Powder Matters

Metal additive manufacturing has grown quickly, but the supply of qualified powder has not kept pace. Most high-performance titanium and refractory powders were historically produced overseas, leaving U.S. defense and aerospace programs vulnerable to long lead times and export controls.

Amaero's expansion directly addresses that bottleneck. The company produces C103, a niobium alloy built for extreme heat, alongside standard Ti-6Al-4V titanium. Those materials show up in rocket engines, propulsion systems, and other hardware that runs at temperatures where most alloys soften.

PM-HIP and the Submarine Industrial Base

Powder alone is not the whole story. Amaero also uses Powder Metallurgy Hot Isostatic Pressing, or PM-HIP, to turn powder into near-net-shape metal parts. The process subjects powder inside a sealed container to extreme heat and pressure, producing a dense solid with forged-equivalent strength.

For the U.S. submarine and maritime industrial base, PM-HIP offers a way around long casting and forging queues. Amaero says it is advancing multiple first-article qualification programs with Department of Defense prime contractors, a prerequisite for moving from prototype to recurring production.

America Makes and the Broader Supply Chain

Amaero has worked with America Makes, the national additive manufacturing innovation institute, through partner ADDMAN on the MATCHAS program. That effort focuses on making high-temperature materials more available and reducing the cost of qualifying parts made from them.

The company is also collaborating with ASTM on research into Ti-6Al-4V powder production, looking at yield, recycling, and process improvements that could lower costs across the industry.

Expanding metal 3D printing in the United States requires more than just buying printers. It requires a full supply chain: powder, process qualification, and part certification. Amaero's Tennessee expansion is a bet that domestic capacity wins that race.