Powder Metal 3d Printing

There is a wide range of powder materials that could be used in 3d printing and that depends on the desired properties of the end product and the method of printing employed.

Powder metal 3d printing.

There are numerous metal printing technologies available and the vast majority make use of metal powder. The four main types of 3d metal printing technologies are. In last week s article on digital alloys we looked at a fast low cost method of 3d printing metals called joule printing. There is a drive to reduce the cost of metal powders in order to open up the technology to a larger portion of the manufacturing industry.

We were surprised to see at least 50 companies working on metal 3d printing each pursuing their own technology. Powder and binder metal 3d printing. Metal powder bed fusion 3d printing sls slm dmp directed energy deposition ded metal filament extrusion fff fdm material jetting and binder jetting. This results in a part that has a single melting temperature something not produced with an alloy.

3d printing metal technologies like powder bed fusion metal binder jetting and directed energy deposition have grown at an explosive pace. The metal x is designed to be safe to use and accessible for all fabricators. Metal binder jetting 3d printing with metal starts out like any other printing process with an awesome 3d design and a slicer that tells the printer where the print head should deposit material. Instead of plastic being extruded however metal powder is deposited or rolled on in thin layers and a glue like binding substance is ejected from.

The typical build size of a metal 3d printing system is 250 x 150 x 150 mm but larger machines are also available up to 500 x 280 x 360 mm. The layer height used in metal 3d printing varies between 20 to 50 microns and depends on the properties of the metal powder flowability particle size distribution shape etc. 3d printing with metal powders. There are also some resin based metal 3d printers and metal sheet lamination 3d printers but they are harder to come by.

Some of the common metal powders utilised in am include alloys of nickel steel cobalt and titanium. It costs 5 10 times less than dmls metal 3d printing systems and requires no dedicated operator no powder management system and minimal ppe. Some of the more common 3d printing machines are listed in the following section. Slm for 3d printing metal powder uses the laser to achieve a full melt of the metal powder forming a homogeneous part.