For many years, the 3D printing world has been researching how to make 3D printing more efficient and therefore more affordable. A new development from RMIT University’s School of Engineering could mean a decisive step in this direction in the field of powder-based metal printing. In particular, this could drastically increase the print consistency.
Ultrasound as an insider tip
The RMIT research team was able to find out what crucial role the use of Ultrasonic due. With its help, stronger and denser models can be produced in additive manufacturing.
Compaction of the powder particles
Specifically, this is done by shaking powder particles into a denser formation during the printing process. The use of ultrasound in 3D printing with titanium not only leads to an improvement in tensile strength. At the same time, the yield point is improved by 12% compared to conventional additively manufactured components.
Carmelo Todaro, a PhD student at RMIT’s School of Engineering and lead author of the study explains: “If you look at the microscopic structure of 3D printed alloys, they often consist of large and elongated crystals. This can mean that they have lower mechanical performance and are prone to cracking, making them less suitable for technical applications.” However, this is exactly where ultrasound can help, as Todaro continues: “The microscopic structure of the alloys on which However, when we used ultrasound to print, it looked significantly different: the alloy crystals were very fine and fully equiaxed, meaning they had formed evenly in all directions throughout the printed metal part.”
Starting point: A study of sound vibrations
As part of a study on sound vibrations the RMIT researchers had tested on 2 commonly used metal 3D printing powders. Specifically, this was a titanium alloy (Ti-6Al-4V) and a nickel-based superalloy (Inconel 625). It has now been shown that ultrasound causes the microscopic structures of certain parts of an individual component to change. The term “functional grading” was coined for this phenomenon. It is achieved by simply turning the sound wave generator on and off during the printing process.