3D metal printing technology — like metal fused filament fabrication (metal FFF) — presents a breakthrough way to make functional metal parts accessible for businesses of all sizes. Metal FFF and composite FFF share many key process advantages over conventional manufacturing.
Metal powder is the backbone of metal 3D printing. Though it’s difficult and dangerous to handle in its raw state, its unique features make it the preferred metal stock type. The vast majority of metal 3D printing technologies utilize metal powder. As a result, the major differences between types of metal printers relate to how they fuse the powder into metal parts. These methods vary greatly, ranging from using high energy lasers to fuse loose powder to extruding bound metal powder filament. In this article, we’ll take a look at the most heavily used types of metal 3D printing, how they work, and why they’re beneficial.
The Markforged Metal X additive manufacturing process combines metal injection molding (MIM) and fused filament fabrication (FFF) technologies together into Bound Powder Extrusion. BPE provides a simple, cost effective way to create metal parts. The process closely mirrors conventional 3D printing with two extra steps -- washing and sintering.
The ability to additively manufacture near net shape parts has long been a holy grail of manufacturing. As a result, Metal 3D printing (the technology that seems likely to deliver on that promise), has carried an immense amount of “hype.” The blind excitement for the process largely overshadow the actual benefits of metal 3D printing, which paint the picture of a unique fabrication method that can specifically add value to the manufacturing process in a few key ways.
Metal 3D printing is changing how we think about fabricating with metal, and as the technology becomes more and more prevalent on manufacturing floors, it’s important for businesses to gain application-centric intuition about the process. Just as machinists understand which components are best made on a waterjet vs. a 3-axis mill, it is essential to know which parts are a good fit for additive manufacturing and 3D printing applications.
Founded in 1973, Guhring UK — the Birmingham-based subsidiary of the Guhring Group — manufactures precision cutting tools. The company began as a stockholder of the more standardized cutting and milling tools. Today Guhring UK manufactures bespoke cutting and milling tools for some of the world’s largest companies, including BMW, Jaguar Land Rover, Airbus, and BAE Systems. Guhring’s expertise in manufacturing carbide and polycrystalline diamond (PCD) cutting tools is world-renowned. Their range of PCD tools are made-to-order to suit customer requirements, and are manufactured by brazing ultra high-hardness industrial-grade diamond cutting tips onto bespoke hardened tool steel bodies.
There are two main drivers of whether or not a metal alloy is printed today: printability and demand. Though there are a wide variety of metal 3D printing processes out there, nearly all rely on metal powders. These materials take two forms in printing: raw 3D printing metal powders, or bound powder 3d printing metal filament. As a result, the metal materials printable today are to a large degree constrained by powder availability and whether or not that powder can be effectively bound. Aluminum, as an example, is notoriously difficult to print well and is as a result relatively uncommon.
While metal 3D printing is not replacing traditional manufacturing methods, it is changing how we think about fabricating metal parts. The basic physical difference in how objects are made with additive produces some major functional differences. The most important of these functional differences is that additive manufacturing can be used to create complex geometries that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional manufacturing methods.
The key to unlocking strength in continuous fiber 3D printing is by understanding where you can leverage strands or panels such that they distribute the loading forces in tension or bending, as we covered in the Physics of 3D Printing. Below, we share a few different methods for identifying and placing fiber within your part to provide strength where you need it.