Classification and use of 3D printing powder

Nowadays, everyone is no stranger to 3D printing. Today we will talk about an important material used in 3D printing-metal powder.

What are the metal powder materials for 3D printing?
At present, 3D printing metal powder materials include stainless steel, die steel, nickel alloy, titanium alloy, cobalt-chromium alloy, aluminum alloy, and bronze alloy. Iron-based alloys are the most important and most used metal materials in engineering technology. They are 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. It has physical, chemical, and mechanical properties such as corrosion resistance and has high dimensional accuracy and material utilization. It has been widely used in aerospace, automotive, shipbuilding, 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. It is also used in the production of biomedical implants: high, low modulus, strong fatigue resistance.
 
The copper alloy has excellent thermal conductivity 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. Aluminum alloy is the most widely used non-ferrous metal structural material in the industry. It has low density, high specific strength, close to or exceeds high-quality steel, and good plasticity.
What are the requirements for the performance of metal powder in 3D printing?
The first is purity. Ceramic inclusions will significantly reduce the performance of the final product, and these inclusions generally have a higher melting point, which is difficult to sinter and shape, so there must be no ceramic inclusions in the powder. The second is the powder size distribution. Different 3D printing equipment and forming processes have different requirements for powder particle size distribution. The choice of metal powder particle size for 3D printing is mainly based on metal printers with different energy sources. The third is the powder morphology. The morphology of the powder is closely related to the preparation method of the powder. Generally, when the metal gas or molten liquid is transformed into powder, the shape of the powder particles tends to be spherical. When changing from solid-state to powder, the powder particles are mostly irregular shapes. Most powders prepared by aqueous electrolysis are dendritic.