As additive manufacturing continues to revolutionize industries, laser sintering is breaking free from its aerospace roots — one of the first business segments to embrace and benefit from its potential — and is fulfilling new applications across various sectors. RMB Products offers customers its knowledge base developed over more than 20 years of employing laser sintering to meet exact specifications in the aerospace industry. It’s also expanding its laser sintering services to help transform other manufacturing sectors.

Maintenance planners and engineering staff face mounting pressures to prolong the lifespan of capital equipment and minimize downtime while doing so. But their list of responsibilities spans multiple projects, and — try as they might to squeeze in extra tasks — each day still contains just 24 hours. These professionals need solutions that help simplify complex processes while still upholding rigorous quality standards.

When the manufacturing industry has access to new, advanced materials or processes, it brings dormant ideas to life and creates realities that formerly existed only in the imagination. Just as a painter’s creative potential is amplified by a broader palette of colors, innovative polymers, when combined with advanced manufacturing technologies, expand design freedom for product developers.

It's 3 a.m. when your emergency alert sounds. A glass-lined reactor vessel processing hydrochloric acid has developed a crack and the corrosive chemicals within are now attacking the steel substrate. Production grinds to a halt and although maintenance is swift to respond, the damage is done. Your team estimates the vessel will be out of commission for weeks, months, as you navigate repairs or replacement. This scenario plays out regularly in chemical processing facilities when tank linings fail, leading to unplanned downtime, safety risks, and significant financial losses.

Chemical processing plants and facilities dealing with corrosive fluids rely heavily on lined piping systems to protect against degradation and ensure safe, efficient operations. Two common lining materials are polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE). While both offer excellent chemical resistance, there are key differences in their properties, application methods, and ideal use cases that engineers and plant managers should understand to optimize protection against corrosion, to help extend the life span of critical equipment.