According to the world's authoritative 3D printing research report "Wohlers Report 2021", aluminum alloy components account for 11.6% of the total 3D metal printing components in 2020, a rapid increase of 135% compared to 2017.
In 2019, SZBF Additive Technology Corporation announced at the International Aviation Materials Conference held in Reno, the United States, that its research team has successfully developed a high-temperature and high-strength aluminum alloy material Al GE250C for 3D printing.
It was immediately highly appreciated and valued by a number of aviation giants including GE, Boeing, Thor, Safran and other aviation giants.
The strength of the material has reached the highest level among aluminum alloy materials currently available for 3D printing. The tensile strength is stable to more than 570MPa, and the elongation is stable to more than 12%. The prepared aerospace parts have passed the stability test for 5000 hours at a high temperature of 250°C. , Which is equivalent to the requirement of 25 years of regular service of the engine.
The yield strength of AlSi10Mg commonly used in 3D printing is 260MPa, the elongation after printing is 4-6%, and the maximum use temperature is less than 100℃. Both in terms of performance and use temperature, it cannot meet the requirements of aerospace aluminum alloy products. Strict requirements, and the Al GE250C material is close to twice the strength of the commonly used AlSi10Mg aluminum alloy material. It is particularly pointed out that the material exhibits a very excellent high-temperature service life. Compared with the Scalmalloy aluminum alloy currently suitable for metal 3D printing, its service life at 250°C is only 100 hours, while Al GE250C has a service life of more than 5000 hours at the same temperature, which greatly improves the service life.
At present, Al GE250C material has been printing various products continuously for more than two years, and the products have been widely used and verified by customers in the fields of aerospace and scientific research at home and abroad.
Due to its high temperature resistance and high strength, Al GE250C currently has a typical application case of high-efficiency heat exchangers. On the one hand, under the same pressure conditions, it can achieve a thinner wall thickness and lighter weight than conventional AlSi10Mg alloys. Weight, and achieve better heat transfer effect; on the other hand, it can replace the low heat transfer coefficient materials of titanium alloy and stainless steel used in the original medium temperature environment, and realize the double improvement of weight reduction and efficient heat transfer.
Al GE250C makes up for the shortcomings of traditional 6-series aluminum alloy materials that are not fully applicable to the 3D printing process. At the same time, it solves the problems of low strength and low use temperature of traditional aluminum alloys. It is a new type of high-strength aluminum alloy material with a wide range of application prospects. The use of this material to make aerospace aluminum alloy 3D printed structural parts is more hopeful to replace part of the current aerospace titanium alloy components, and achieve the purpose of reducing weight and saving costs in the aerospace field.