Is precision components manufacturing ready for 3D printing? (Part three)

Favorable features of metal's laser printing
As far as an engineer is concerned, the most noteworthy advantages of metal's 3D laser printing are as the following:
  • The ability to create completely enclosed voids and other characteristics which are unlikely to subtractively manufacture
  • Structures that make exceptional part strength and a design of light weight which was previously impossible to create

For industries like aviation, reducing airframe weight means reducing fuel consumption.  Lightweight is a crucial goal.

From an application point of view, the most important advantage of metal's laser printing is the "mass customization" which 3D additive laser printing led into industries in range from the replacement parts of aviation to dental crowns and bridges, to orthopedic and prosthetic innovation industries, and of course, the whole prototyping business. A number of these special shapes will never be subtractively manufactured. Even for those which can be manufactured or cast at a lower cost per piece, neither way might convincingly be close to the nearly instantaneous delivery times which can be made possible by metal's 3D laser printing.

Metal's Laser printing can considerably reduce material waste in the manufacturing process. Conventional subtractive cutting methods include removing the material to form a shape, while metal's 3D laser printing creates a shape by just adding the need material.

Provided that metal powder is able to be obtained, 3D laser printing is elastic with regard to the metal it can use, including stainless steel, titanium, inconel and cobalt chrome, along with copper, brass, bronze and precious metals like silver, gold and platinum. Yet, in spite that the difficulties of 3D laser printing in an inert atmosphere have been overcome, it's still impossible to properly anneal particular metals. For instance, 3D printing can "configure" tungsten, but the configured tungsten metal block is liable to break easily and cannot be used.

 

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