UPM Advanced Solutions Build Plate Offerings

UPM Advanced Solutions offers nickel build plate grades 625 and 718. These grades are able to maintain their mechanical strength and dimensional stability, even at elevated temperature. This makes nickel build plates well-suited for high-temperature AM processes that require frequent thermal cycling. Additionally, nickel build plates offer excellent corrosion and oxidation resistance, uniform heat distribution, and high mechanical strength and fatigue resistance. These advantages make nickel build plates valuable in the aerospace, defense, space, and energy sectors where performance and reliability are critical. 

Titanium offers an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, superior corrosion resistance, and high fatigue and creep resistance, making it a useful material for additive build plates. UPM Advanced Solutions offers Ti-6AL-4V, CP Grade 2, and 6242 titanium. While these titanium grades have lower thermal conductivity compared to some metals, they perform well within typical laser powder bed fusion processing windows. Titanium build plates are heavily used in the aerospace, defense, space, and medical industries. 

UPM Advanced Solutions offers several grades of stainless steel for build plates, including 304/304L, 316L, 17-4 PH, 15-5 PH, and 253MA. One of the main advantages of stainless steel build plates is their combability with a wide range of metal powders. This means that one plate can support multiple applications, making it ideal when mixed-material production is needed. Stainless steel offers good mechanical strength, strong adhesion with controlled part removal, and excellent corrosion and oxidation resistance. Stainless steel build plates are relatively easy to resurface and machine, helping to extend plate life and lower maintenance costs. Stainless steel build plates are frequently used in the automotive and industrial industries. 

UPM Advanced Solutions stocks C110 copper for build plate manufacturing. Copper build plates offer exceptional thermal conductivity and enhanced dimensional stability. It is important to consider that copper build plates are typically more specialized due to the fact that it is a softer material and less universally compatible with other powder types. Copper build plates are generally used when its thermal benefits are required, rather than as a general-purpose build plate. Copper build plates are especially valuable in aerospace and defense applications, as well as electronics and thermal management practices. 

Aluminum build plates provide excellent thermal conductivity, good corrosion resistance, and easy machining. UPM Advanced Solutions offers 3 grades of aluminum for build plates, including 6061-T651, 5083-H116, and 7075-T651. These aluminum grades are significantly lighter than most other metals, making them easy to handle. This is especially beneficial in high-throughput or frequent changeover environments. Aluminum build plates are best used where thermal efficiency, weight savings, and cost control are priorities.  Aluminum build plates are typically used in the automotive industry and are also frequently used for prototyping due to its ease of machining and lightweight nature. 

UPM Advanced Solutions offers several steel build plate grades, including 1045, A36, 4140, 4340, and TOOLOX33. Steel build plates offer high strength and rigidity, excellent durability and wear resistance, and high temperature capabilities. Steel build plates are best suited for robust, high-strength, production-oriented AM applications. Steel build plates are commonly used in the automotive, industrial, aerospace, and defense industries. 

Niobium grade C103 is offered at UPM Advanced Solutions for build plates. This product has an exceptional high-temperature performance, as well as good ductility at elevated temperatures. Niobium has excellent compatibility with refractory metals such as tantalum, tungsten alloys, and molybdenum alloys due to their similar thermal behavior. Niobium build plates are typically chosen only when no other material can meet the thermal or mechanical compatibility requirements due to niobium’s very high material cost and limited availability. This material is used for aerospace, defense, space, and energy applications. 

UPM Advanced Solutions is more than a build plate provider—we are a strategic partner in additive manufacturing. Our custom build plate programs combine fully machined, application‑ready plates with inventory management, in‑house refurbishment and resurfacing, scrap handling, and logistics tailored to your operation. Supported by serialization and life‑cycle tracking, we help extend build plate life, reduce downtime, and lower total cost of ownership while keeping production moving efficiently. To learn more about UPM Advanced Solutions custom build plate programs, please click here.