3D Metal Printing Technology Continues To Improve

 3D Printing  

Research advances toward the goal of developing metal 3D printing to create fully dense metal parts with mechanical properties similar to those produced by casting or forging is getting better and better according to a new study.

Researchers from China’s Northwestern Polytechnical University describe their progress with 3D-printed metallic parts, using laser solid forming (LSF) technology, in an article in 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, a peer-reviewed journal.

The authors, Weidong Huang and Lin Xin, cover research advances toward the goal of developing LSF — an additive manufacturing technique that uses laser cladding with synchronously feeding metal powders to create fully dense metal parts with mechanical properties similar to those produced by casting or forging.

In recent years, direct fabrication, hybrid manufacturing, and high-performance repairing, which are based on the LSF route, have been applied widely in aviation, aerospace, and the medical field.

According to the authors, direct fabrication of metallic components using laser solid forming (LSF) has been shown to be a viable and promising manufacturing technology. The mechanical properties and microstructure characteristics of LSF metallic parts present outstanding mechanical properties usually in the class of those of wrought parts. The parts made by the process do have the graining found in most 3D printed parts though.

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The microstructure features inside the grain are usually finer compared with a forging part due to the rapid solidification and cooling during LSF. These microstructural characteristics are responsible for the excellent mechanical properties.

“Additive manufacturing technologies have a global reach that is impacting the manufacturing landscape worldwide, and it is critical that both technology developers and users across the planet keep abreast of each other’s progress,” says Editor-in-Chief Hod Lipson, PhD, Professor at Cornell University’s Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering.


SOURCE   Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

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