As metal 3D printing occupies an increasing proportion in advanced manufacturing, the importance of metal powder materials in the upper reaches of the industrial chain is becoming more and more prominent. Among many metal powder materials, aluminium alloy powder seems to be a special one.
First of all, aluminium alloy powder is dangerous. It is flammable, easy to oxidize, and absorbs moisture, which brings considerable troubles to the production, storage and transportation of aluminium alloy powder.
Secondly, in the interaction with the laser, aluminium alloy has a high laser reflectivity (about 91%), which requires high enough energy to melt it. Therefore, metal 3D printing equipment generally requires relatively high laser reflectivity (about 91%). High power.
Thirdly, the aluminium alloy powder is sticky and has low fluidity, which brings excellent problems to the metal powder coating. It can't spread powder, and it isn't easy to print. Besides, aluminium alloy is easily oxidized, and its oxide film is very dense, which will increase the difficulty of laser melting. The generated oxide film will also hinder the bonding of the cladding layer and the substrate. Therefore, for a long time, aluminium alloy 3D printing is almost a job that metal 3D printing service providers are unwilling to undertake.
However, aluminium alloy is widely used in many fields such as aerospace, military industry, vehicles, ships, electronics, industrial manufacturing, and civil applications due to its lightweight, high strength, high thermal conductivity, corrosion resistance, and electrical conductivity. In daily life, aluminium is also one of our most common metal materials.
Unfortunately, the progress of aluminium alloy 3D printing in various fields has been plodding. This can be attributed to the following three reasons:
First, the cost of aluminium alloy is meagre, and metal 3D printing itself is an expensive technology, so aluminium alloy processed by 3D printing has no price advantage.
Second, the aluminium alloy materials that can be printed are minimal. The aluminium alloy 3D printing materials currently on the market are mainly AlSi10Mg and AlSi7Mg. Although some high-strength aluminium alloy 3D printing materials have been developed, they are still in the hands of a few companies and have not yet been obtained and widely used. The aluminium alloy 3D printing materials designed for specific applications, such as aluminium alloy for heat conduction and aluminium alloy for electrical conduction, have hardly been developed.
Third, although metal 3D printing technology has developed rapidly in recent years, in practical applications, most companies have not explored the advantages and core competitiveness of metal 3D printing. Metal 3D printing has not been integrated into the product development process, and most manufacturing companies have not enjoyed the actual benefits of technology upgrades, product upgrades and performance improvements brought by metal 3D printing. This, of course, depends on the joint efforts of upstream and downstream industries.
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 Nanomaterials. The 3D printing metal powder produced by our company has high purity, fine particle size and impurity content. Lower, please contact us if necessary.
