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Advanced steel powder for direct metal laser sintering

Petzoldt, F ; Sharif University of Technology | 2005

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  1. Type of Document: Article
  2. Publisher: European Powder Metallurgy Association (EPMA) , 2005
  3. Abstract:
  4. Recent advances in material issues for Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) process are presented. The concept is to decrease the powder particle size with the aim of enhancing the sintering kinetics and improving the surface quality of the produced parts. The outcome is particularly suitable for overcoming existing limitations with the rapid tooling, e.g. manufacturing of mould inserts for injection moulding and die casting, by the DMLS process. The powder composition was adapted near to the conventional P/M steels in order to get identical properties with a favourable price. Such novel powder material provides an opportunity to considerably reduce the product development time for P/M components and hence reduce the production costs. The application is shown through manufacturing of an injection moulding insert. It has been found that the powder particle characteristics, i.e. size, distribution and shape, are the key parameters in DMLS. Although fine powders provide higher sintering kinetics, agglomeration of the particles and laser scattering hamper densification and detriment the surface quality. An optimized particle characteristic has been adapted to counterbalance between the advantages and disadvantages of using fine particles for laser sintering. © 2005 European Powder Metallurgy Association
  5. Keywords:
  6. 3D printers ; Cermets ; Die casting ; Die casting inserts ; Injection molding ; Laser heating ; Manufacture ; Product development ; Sintering ; Surface properties ; Direct metal laser sintering ; Laser scattering ; Laser sintering ; Particle characteristics ; Powder composition ; Powder material ; Powder particles ; Sintering kinetics ; Powder metallurgy
  7. Source: European Powder Metallurgy Congress and Exhibition, Euro PM 2005, Prague, 2 October 2005 through 5 October 2005 ; Volume 3 , 2005 , Pages 35-40 ; 9781899072187 (ISBN)
  8. URL: https://www.epma.com/publications/euro-pm-proceedings/product/euro-pm2005-proceedings-volume-3