Recently, a joint research team from the University of Birmingham in the UK, Stockholm University in Sweden, and Zhejiang University in China has developed a new stainless steel SLM 3D printing technology with high strength and ductility, which overcomes the strength and ductility characteristics of additive manufacturing. bottleneck. This process can be used to make heavy parts for the aerospace and automotive industries.
The new selective laser melting (SLM) technology developed by the research team can print unprecedented shapes and provide ultra-fast cooling rates of -1000 ° C / s to 100 million ° C / s, which will produce some very desirable mechanical results, 3D-printed stainless steel is more enduring for car and aircraft manufacturers. The rapid cooling speed of this technology, in addition to additive manufacturing, has not yet reached the metal production process, leaving the metal in an unbalanced state. This can result in sub-micron-sized dislocation network microstructures, which in turn produce ideal mechanical properties such as strength and ductility.
"This work provides researchers with a brand new tool to design new alloy systems with super mechanical properties, helping metal 3D printing enter areas requiring high mechanical properties, such as structural parts in the aerospace and automotive fields." Dr. Leifeng Liu, who works as an AMCASH researcher at the University of Birmingham, said.
Liu and his team are responsible for establishing a micro-nano material testing system inside the electron microscope so that researchers can analyze the performance of 3D printed metal samples during mechanical testing. It is understood that this test system helps researchers understand these physical mechanisms and determine the effective microstructure characteristics of printed metals.