Researchers at Tohoku University have made a breakthrough in multi-material 3D printing, enabling the creation of lightweight yet durable automobile parts. This advancement utilizes laser powder bed fusion to combine materials like steel and aluminum, overcoming the challenge of brittle intermetallic compounds often formed at dissimilar metal interfaces. The result is a stronger, lighter car part with enhanced performance.
A future where lightweight car parts can be made with a 3D printer is here, thanks to multi-material additive manufacturing research. Researchers at Tohoku University's Institute for Materials Research and New Industry Creation Hatchery Center have made a breakthrough in a multi-material 3D printing technique, demonstrating the process for creating a lightweight yet durable automobile part.
The process of metal 3D printing involves building objects by depositing metals layer by layer, using heat to bind them together. The precision of 3D printing allows for the production of unique, highly customizable shapes that often create less wasteful byproducts than traditional manufacturing methods."Multi-material structures" which strategically combine different materials for optimal performance of a component can also be created via 3D printing. For example, steel automobile parts can be made more lightweight by combining them with aluminum. Due to these benefits, mastering such 3D printing techniques is garnering considerable attention from researchers."Multi-materials are a hot topic in the field of additive manufacturing due to its process flexibility," explains Associate Professor Kenta Yamanaka ,"However, a major challenge in practical implementation is that for certain metal combinations, such as steel and aluminum, brittle intermetallic compounds can be formed at the dissimilar metal interfaces. So, while the material is now lighter, it ends up being more brittle." The goal of this study was to produce a steel-aluminum alloy that was lightweight but did not compromise on strength. To do so, the research team used Laser Powder Bed Fusion , one of the primary metal 3D printing technologies that employs a laser to selectively melt metal powders. They discovered that increasing the scan speed of the laser significantly suppresses the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds . They proposed that this higher scanning speed leads to something called non-equilibrium solidification, which minimizes solute partitioning that result in weak points in the material. The resulting product they created consequently demonstrated strong bonding interfaces. "In other words, you can't just slap two metals together and expect them to stick without a plan," says Specially Appointed Assistant Professor Seungkyun Yim ,"We had to fully understand the in-situ alloying mechanism first." Based on this achievement, they successfully prototyped the world's first full-scale automotive multi-material component with a tailored geometry. The research group intends to apply these findings to other metal combinations where similar issues with bonding need improvement, which will allow for more broad applications.Chicago Engineers have found a way to simultaneously mitigate three types of defects in parts produced using a prominent additive manufacturing technique called laser powder bed ... Researchers used robotics and additive manufacturing to toughen cement-based material with precisely placed hollow tubes. The result is more than 5 times tougher than ... Researchers have developed software to improve the accuracy of 3D-printed parts, seeking to reduce costs and waste for companies using additive manufacturing to mass produce parts in ... A research team has made two discoveries that can expand additive manufacturing in aerospace and other industries that rely on strong metal ...
3D Printing Additive Manufacturing Lightweight Materials Automotive Industry Metallurgy
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