Zhongti New Materials, Airbus-qualified metal AM powder supplier, forms joint research center with Shanghai Jiao Tong University

Anhui-based Zhongti New Materials has signed an agreement with Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Materials Science and Engineering to establish a joint research center for high-performance metal powders used in additive manufacturing. The center will operate across three sites: Zhongti's production base in Chuzhou, its R&D facility in Shanghai's Qingpu district, and SJTU's Minhang campus. Work will focus on five areas: new low-cost alloy design, powder production process optimization, intelligent upgrades to powder production lines, multi-scale characterization of printed parts, and structural validation for end-use applications. Zhongti currently produces titanium, aluminum, nickel, iron, and copper alloy powders at 3,500 tons of annual capacity, certified to ISO9001, ISO13485, and IATF16949, and exports to more than 40 countries.

The partnership extends a run of capacity and credibility moves for Zhongti, which became the first Asian metal powder supplier qualified to produce Airbus's Scalmalloy aluminum alloy in 2024 and is now building an 8,000-ton super factory alongside a planned US production base. Pairing a laser additive manufacturing research group with an established powder producer targets a persistent bottleneck in metal AM: qualified, cost-competitive powder feedstock for aerospace, consumer electronics, and medical implant applications where material consistency drives certification timelines. For a supplier already inside Airbus's supply chain, formalizing an academic pipeline for alloy design and powder characterization is a step toward positioning as a materials-and-process partner rather than a commodity powder vendor, though the five research directions are still early-stage and any resulting powder grades remain years from production qualification.