Nowadays, everyone is no stranger to 3D printing. We have introduced a lot of 3D printing applications before, such as printing houses, bridges, etc. Today we will talk about an essential 3D printing application Material-metal powder.
3D printing has different requirements for powder flowability and particle size than ordinary powder metallurgy. For titanium alloys, the ideal powder is a spherical titanium alloy powder of 30-50 microns. Still, in pure powder metallurgy, the powder may not be spherical, and the particle size range is more comprehensive.
In addition to the excellent plasticity of 3D printed metal powder, it must also meet the requirements of ideal powder particle size, narrow particle size distribution, high sphericity, good fluidity, and high bulk density: internal structure and conformal cooling channels.
(1) Titanium alloy, aluminum alloy, stainless steel, metal powder materials that can be used for 3D printing. There are many printing consumables widely used in 3D printing. There are mainly four types of morphology: liquid photosensitive resin materials, thin materials, and low-melting wire Materials and powder materials; from the composition, it covers almost all kinds of stuff in current production and life, including polymer materials such as plastics, resins, waxes, metal and alloy materials, ceramic materials, etc., among them, the most cutting-edge and the most advanced Potential is undoubtedly 3D printing of metal powder
Currently, the types of 3D printed metal powder materials include stainless steel, mild steel, nickel alloy, titanium alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy, aluminum alloy, and bronze alloy.
Iron-based alloy is the most important and most used metal material in engineering technology. It is mostly used for forming complex structures, such as stainless steel for 3D printing. Compared with traditional casting and forging technology, it has high strength, excellent high-temperature resistance, and wear resistance. And corrosion resistance and other physical, chemical and mechanical properties, and has high dimensional accuracy and material utilization, has been widely used in aerospace, automotive, marine, machinery manufacturing, and other industries.
Titanium alloy has excellent strength and toughness, combined with corrosion resistance, low specific gravity, and biocompatibility, making it ideal for many high-performance engineering applications in aerospace and automotive competitions, and also used in the production of biomedical implants: high, low modulus, and intense fatigue resistance.
Cobalt-chromium alloys are often used in surgical implants such as artificial alloy joints, knee joints, and hip joints due to their high wear resistance, excellent biocompatibility, and nickel-free (nickel content <0.1%). They can also be used in engine parts: wind turbines and many other industrial components.
Aluminum alloy is the most widely used type of non-ferrous metal structural material in the industry. It has low density, high specific strength, close to or exceeds high-quality steel, and functional plasticity. Studies have shown that 3D printing aluminum alloys can make parts dense and delicate in structure, and their mechanical properties are comparable to castings or even better than cast parts. Compared with traditional process parts, their quality can be reduced by 22%, and costs can be reduced by 30%.
Copper alloys have excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. Copper with excellent thermal conductivity in thermal management applications can combine design freedom to produce complex internal structures and conformal cooling channels.
TRUNNANO (aka. Luoyang Kmpass Nano Technology Co. Ltd.) is a trusted global chemical material supplier & manufacturer with over 12 years’ experience in providing super high quality chemicals and Nano materials. The 3D printing metal powder produced by our company has high purity, fine particle size and impurity content. Lower, please contact us if necessary.
