Freemelt Wins SEK 28 Million ESS Order for 7,000 Tungsten Components-3DPTimes

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Freemelt Wins SEK 28 Million ESS Order for 7,000 Tungsten Components

October 26, 2026 News 3DPTimes Editorial | Source: Freemelt company announcement, October 22, 2026. 20

The October 22 order covers the neutron source’s target wheel, with deliveries scheduled over 14 months and most planned for 2027.

Archive: installation of the ESS tungsten target wheel, November 24, 2023. Not the 2026 Freemelt order or its delivered components. Photo: Bairuilong, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. Complete browser-displayed photograph reproduced as JPEG and rescaled; photographic content unchanged. Original: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Target_Wheel_231124.jpg | License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/

Freemelt has secured a SEK 28 million order to manufacture and deliver 7,000 tungsten-based components for the European Spallation Source (ESS) target wheel system, according to its October 22 announcement. Deliveries are scheduled over 14 months, with most planned for 2027.

The target wheel produces neutrons when the accelerator’s proton beam strikes tungsten. Researchers use those neutrons to investigate materials at the atomic scale. Freemelt says the components have a limited operating life and need periodic replacement; possible repeat business remains a future opportunity, rather than an additional confirmed order.

The company will fulfil the contract through its Manufacturing business area with supply-chain partners, covering material supply through finished, qualified components. Its announcement places the work alongside its electron beam powder bed fusion expertise, but does not specify the manufacturing route for every component. The order should therefore not be read as confirmation that all 7,000 pieces will be 3D printed.

This is an October 22 company disclosure, not a new October 26 award or a report of completed deliveries.

Archive photograph: installation of the ESS tungsten target wheel on November 24, 2023. Photo: Bairuilong, Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0. This is not a photograph of the 2026 Freemelt order or its delivered components. Complete browser-displayed photograph reproduced as JPEG and rescaled; photographic content unchanged. Original: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Target_Wheel_231124.jpg . License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ .

Primary source: Freemelt, October 22, 2026: https://freemelt.com/mfn_news_en/freemelt-awarded-sek-28-million-order-from-ess-to-manufacture-tungsten-components/ .