3D Metal Printing
3D Metal Printing
3D Metal Printing
ABSTRACT
The chapter begins by introducing the holistic concept of additive manufacturing and its
scientific principle as the technology for the modern and future industry. It focus on an
interesting role the 3D printing technology is playing in the fight against Covid-19 pandemic . 3D
printing using plastics is now a well established process for producing complex parts using the
STL file of 3D objects, produced on a CAD software. Due to availability of open source software
and hardware for this process the cost of the equipment has come down drastically. Attempts are
being made to overcome the limitation of using low melting plastics as the work material. In this
context metal 3D printing process has been proposed. There still remain several problems which
need to be addressed before the process could be made viable and economical for metals.
Manufacturing metal parts with complex geometries using conventional methods has proven to
be almost impossible due to tooling constraints. Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing
has proven to be a solution for manufacturing such parts since the constraints imposed by
traditional manufacturing are not applicable to AM.
Traditional manufacturing techniques remove material from a piece of stock to create the desired
geometry. Additive manufacturing is capable of producing highly complex features and all-in-
one assemblies that would be difficult to achieve with subtractive manufacturing techniques.
Thus, shows that metal 3D printing is an enabler for manufacturing topology optimised complex
geometries with challenges such as the need to edit and optimise the automatically-generated
supports, and thermal solid support design for large flat surfaces,and possible boundary shell
issues.
CHAPTER 01
INTRODUCTION
1.1 INTRODUCTION
Manufacturing metal parts with complex geometries using conventional methods has proven to
be almost impossible due to tooling constraints. Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3D printing
has proven to be a solution for manufacturing such parts since the constraints imposed by
traditional manufacturing are not applicable to AM. Additive manufacturing (AM) produces
digital models layer by layer into physical parts by joining the layers of material into the desired
shape.
The term
‘additive
manufacturing’ was given by the ASTM F42 committee. AM technology has changed design,
engineering, and manufacturing processes within the aerospace, automotive, electrical and
electronics, consumer industries, biomedical and dental devices and implants. Due to wide
applications, rapid prototyping technology has become a revolutionary fields in manufacturing.
Additive manufacturing is the process of joining materials to make parts from 3D model
data, usually layer upon layer.
In cooperation with computer-aided design (CAD) software, this technique allows the
creation of new types of object with exclusive material properties.
Nowadays, the range of materials expanded way further than plastic or metal. Concrete,
polymers, paper, food substances, biomaterials are about to become more and more
popular and common.
It is also distinguished from traditional subtractive machining techniques that rely on the
removal of the material by methods such as cutting or milling.
Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, rapid prototyping or freeform
fabrication, solid free-form fabrication, direct digital manufacturing.
Additive Manufacturing (AM) is the official term for the technology as per the ASTM
and ISO.
1.2 DEFINITION
The use of a computer and computer aided design (CAD) to create visual 3D models:
There are several CAD tools that are used to generate 3D models some of which include
AutoCAD, Inventor®, Solidworks®, CATIATM and so many others. Some of these
software are available open source or closed source .The technologist or engineer
involved in the field of additive manufacturing should understand how to use a few or
many of the software for effective manufacturing through these technologies. Through
these CAD tools, and based on the experience of the user, any form of complex 3D
models of the products can be generated. The amount of material to be extruded by the
3D printer and the time it will take to build the 3D model is determined and the
information is created in a G-code file, which the printer can easily interpret.
Slicing and generation of tool paths: The CAD 3D-generated models must be prepared in
a format which can be interpreted by the additive manufacturing machine. The slicing
software transforms the 3D design into layered models which the machine tool can easily
trace. There are so many slicing software in the market and they are provided under
different trademark names such as Cura, PrusaSlicer, MatterControl, Simplify3D,
Repetier, ideaMaker, Z-SUITE, Slic3r, IceSL, SlicerCrafter, Astroprint, 3DPrinterOS,
SelfCAD, KISSlicer, Tinkerine Suite, Netfabb Standard including others and each of the
software operates differently to achieve the best slicing .
Conversion of the 3D model into real product: An additive manufacturing machine such
as 3D printer and laser convert the 3D model into an actual product using engineering
materials such as plastics, metal powders, composites, among others. The material(s) is
melted and then allowed to flow according to the G-code (tool path) from the slicing
software to create the 3D component.
In the 60s Herbert Voelcker had thoughts of the possibilities of using computer aided machine
control to run machines that build parts from CAD geometry. In the 70s he developed the
mathematics to describe 3D aspects that resulted in the first algorithms for solid modeling. In the
80s Carl Deckard came up with the idea of layer-based manufacturing. Additive manufacturing
started in the late 80's with Stereolithography. Further patents came along in 1986, resulting in
three more companies, Helisys (Laminated Object Manufacture or LOM), Cubital (with Solid
Ground Curing, SGC), and DTM with their SLS process. DTM merging with 3D Systems in
2001. In 1989, Scott Crump patented the FDM (Fused deposition modeling) process, forming the
Stratasys Company. In 1989 a group from MIT patented the 3D Printing (3DP) process. These
processes from 1989 are heavily used today, with FDM variants currently being the most
successful. Sanders developed ink jet technology process in 1994. The Objet Company also used
this technique to print photocurable resins in droplet form in 2001. Companies like Stratasys, 3D
Systems, and ZCorp have spearheaded the way forward. In Europe, the primary company with a
world-wide impact in AM is EOS Germany. continues to make powder bed fusion systems
which use lasers to melt polymers, bindercoated sand, and metals. Arcam, Strataconception, and
Materialise from Belgium had seen considerable success in developing software tools to support
AM technology. In the early 1980s and 1990s, a number of Japanese companies focused on AM
technology. This included startup companies like Autostrade (which no longer appears to be
operating). Large companies like Sony and Kira, who established subsidiaries to build AM
technology, also became involved. A particular country of interest in terms of AM technology
development is Israel. One of the earliest AM machines was developed by the Israeli company
Cubital. Although one of the newer companies, Objet (now Stratasys) is successfully using
droplet deposition technology to deposit photocurable resins.
1.4 CLASSIFICATION
There are various additive manufacturing methods, classified according to the material and
machine technology used in the production of the components.
According to the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM F42-) standards of 2010,
there are seven categories of AM processes as listed below.
Manu
As additive manufacturing evolves, optimizing designs for the technology is becoming ever-
more important to unlocking the full potential of the technology. Complex geometries,
lightweight components and optimized material distribution are only a few of the advantages that
additive manufacturing offers. However, such design freedom and complexity come at the cost
of rethinking the way in which objects are designed for additive manufacturing.
There are mainly 6 reasons why we need to go for the design for additive manufacturing, they
are:
1.9 APPLICATIONS
1. Part size: In the case of powder bed technology, the part size is limited to powder bed
size, such as 250x250x250 mm for standard powder bed systems. However, part sizes can
be greater with direct energy deposition (or laser metal deposition) processes. But, due to
the low thickness of powder layers, it can be very slow and costly building high parts or
massive parts
2. Production series: the AM processes are generally suitable for unitary or small series
and is not relevant for mass production. But progresses are made to increase machine
productivity and thus the production of larger series. For small sized parts, series up to
25000 parts/year are already possible.
3. Part design: in the case of powder bed technology, removable support structures are
needed when the overhang angle is below 45°. Other design considerations to be taken
into account can be seen in chapter 4 about design guidelines.
4. Material choice: though many alloys are available, non weldable metals cannot be
processed by additive manufacturing and difficult-to-weld alloys require specific
approaches.
5. Material properties: parts made by additive manufacturing tend to show anisotropy in
the Z axis (construction direction).
6. High equipment costs: Industrial-grade metal 3-D printer systems still cost over ₹1
crore limiting broader enterprise adoption.
7. Material constraints: Limited number of 3-D printable materials. Remains challenging
for ceramics and multi-material components.
8. Process reliability: Defects like layer delamination, incomplete filling, and micro-
porosity often affect final build quality and material properties.
9. Standards: Lack of standardized design rules, data formats, quality benchmarks, and
material specifications hamper interoperability and reliability.
10. Legal Concerns: 3-D printing of weapons, controlled accessories, and patented objects
by unregulated actors poses risks.
11. Skilled labour: Operating printers and particularly designing optimized 3-D models
requires specialized technical skills development
Recognizing 3D printing's immense potential for economic growth and self-reliance, the
Government of India has devised targeted policies and initiatives:
National Strategy for Additive Manufacturing:
Formulated by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology in 2021, lays down a
strategic roadmap to foster 3D printing research, skill development, manufacturing and
global partnerships.
Key goals:
Enable 100 innovative 3D printing startups.
Develop 50 India-centric technologies by 2025
Train 5,000 skilled workers by 2024
Samarth Udyog:
This Industry 4.0 initiative by the Ministry of Heavy Industries aims to enhance
manufacturing competitiveness, including the adoption of 3D printing.
Defence Initiatives:
The defence sector has recognized 3D printing's benefits for component
production. DRDO and BEL are actively using the technology.
Healthcare advances:
The Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council (BIRAC) initiated a 3D printing
grand challenge to develop localised healthcare solutions.
Skilling Programs:
The National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) and central and state governments
have launched programs to train youth in 3D printing. PM Kaushal Kendras offer training.
CHAPTER 02
LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Biomedical Applications of Metal 3D Printing
Luis Fernando Velásquez-García,and Yosef Kornbluth
CHAPTER 3
CASE STUDIES
3.1 CASE STUDY 1
Towards a complex geometry manufacturing: A case study on metal 3D printing of topology
optimized bicycle parts with lattices
3.1.1 ABSTRACT
Objective : To demonstrate the workflow from design to manufacturing complex geometry parts
specifically for AM Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process, it also has its own constraints that
are different than traditional manufacturing.
Findings: The results of this research show that metal 3D printing is an enabler for
manufacturing topology optimised complex geometries with challenges such as the need to edit
and optimise the automatically-generated supports, and thermal solid support design for
anchoring large flat surfaces, and possible boundary shells issues.
3.1.2 INTRODUCTION
Metal 3D printing also commonly referred to as metal additive manufacturing (MAM) is a
process used to produce metal parts using metal alloys and metal 3D printing technologies.
MAM gives several possibilities in terms of part manufacturing without any tooling which
includes but is not limited to less waste of raw material, design freedom, manufacturing of near-
net-shape parts, manufacturing of topology optimised complex geometries, lattice structure, and
mass customization posit that MAM is becoming the next industrial revolution.
There are broadly six main categories of metal 3D printing technologies. However, different
manufacturers have developed their own proprietary variations of existing technologies and
labelled them under their own registered business names. The six categories are Powder Bed
Fusion (PBF), Direct Energy Deposition (DED), Metal resin 3D printing, Lamination, Metal
Material Jetting (MJ), or Binding Jetting (BJ), and Metal Filament extrusion/Fused Filament
Fabrication (FFF). The Powder Bed Fusion (PBF) technology was utilised for this research using
Print Sharp 250 Prima Additive SLM Machine at the University of Vaasa, Finland because it can
produce very dense complex parts with higher accuracy
Metal AM processes are generally classified into two major groups which are Powder Bed
Fusion (PBF) based technologies and Directed Energy Deposition (DED) technologies. PBF
based technologies uses thermal energy to selectively fuse/melt regions of powder bed and
produce metal parts while DED uses focused thermal energy to fuse/melt materials (powder or
wire form) as they are being deposited.
Fig .Basic
working
schematic of a PBF based metal 3D printing machine
3.1.2 METHODOLOGY
In order to achieve a more reliable result in terms of demonstrating the capabilities of using
MAM for printing complex geometries, topology optimisation has become a necessity to
generate organic-looking parts with complex geometric configurations. Gebisa and Lemu (2017)
proved that using topology optimisation to redesign a jet engine bracket generated a complex
part that can only be produced using AM. A similar proposition was also established by Aliyi
and Lemu (2019) where a triangular bracket was redesigned with topology optimisation to
achieve lighter weight, the optimised part also appears naturally complex after the process and
AM was considered a viable solution to manufacture it.
Topology optimisation is a product design technique that uses high-end simulation software to
achieve optimised structures to generate a conceptual design with reduced weight and the
resulting structures usually appear more organic and complex than CAD modelled parts. Such
topology optimised structures cannot be easily manufactured using traditional methods (Bendsøe
and Sigmund, 2004; Brackett et al., 2011).
Another lattice generation and integration software that was also explored and utilised during the
research is nTopology. nTopology is a powerful topology optimisation and lattice generation tool
for light-weighting a part for metal 3D printing. Fig. below shows the process of lattice
generation with different parameters while
CONCLUSIONS
3.2.1Abstract
3.2.2 INTRODUCTION
AM still being a young technology, exhibits a number of process problems, which needs to be
known when developing a part to be produced by AM, especially SLM/DMLS - Different
thermal boundaries expected during build up (heating up or cooling down during build of the
single layers). - Technology transfer between different systems (hardware supplier) not/very
limited possible (R&D equipment should be the same as production equipment). - Depending on
optics, test results cannot be transferred (F-theta lens vs. varioscan). - Argon cross flow stability.
- Stability of brush/recoater. - (Random) laser path and directional material pattern, - Breakdown
of melt pool, Re-fusing for densifying layer. Accuracy of overlapping laser paths (in case of
multiple lasers). - Powder handling (EHS issue)and delivery to system - Purity of powder
(supply chain- higher requirements compared to thermal spray application). - Re-use of powder
(sieving, sizing, etc.). - Parts cleaning. - Overhang surfaces & support structures,
In addition, the productivity of the complete system is influenced by the powder handling and
exchange in combination with the required cleaning of the built part in order to remove the
remaining powder. Most of the companies delivering AM equipment have addressed this
problem and can deliver quick exchange system in order to minimize downtime of the
production equipment.
The powder is identified as one of the major cost (and problem) contributor to the AM process.
Especially for (high temperature) metal powder, several challenges exist as described in below
figure
3.2.4 IMPLEMENTATION
The 3d printing technology covering wide range of alloys used in a variety of industries
(including aerospace, automotive, dental, jewelry, oil and gas, orthopedics printed electronics,
and tooling). Some of the potential applications such as Oil and Gas Control Valve (Part of a
control valve, manufactured at the Kariwa plant, Niigata Prefecture, Japan, hardware: Lumex
avance 25) and Engine/Leap 1, Leap 56 Fuel Nozzle/Housing, LEAP FETT parts developed by
GE, Servo Controlled valves, impellers/pumps applications and Stainless steel brackets
3.2.5 METHODOLOGY
Direct Metal Laser Sintering (DMLS) is a laser-based rapid prototyping and tooling process by
means of which net shape parts are fabricated in a single process. Complex parts can be
produced directly from 3D-CAD models by layer-wise solidification of metal powder layers in
portions of the layer corresponding to the cross-section of the three dimensional part in the
respective layer (Syvaenen 2008). Figure 14 below shows the basic components used in the
DMLS process. The basic principle of the DMLS Technology is to melt down thin layers (20 -
60 μm) of Metal Powder with an electronically driven Laser beam (200W) (Met 2016). The
important parts of DMLS machine are: the building platform, dispenser unit, recoater unit, the
laser system, precision optics such as Ftheta lens or varioscan, a high speed scanner and a
computer with process software (EOS2016, Surel 2008). Metal powder is stored in dispenser unit
and the recoater is used for coating of metal powder of uniform layer thickness on steel base
plates. It needs to be noted, that SLM, SLS and DMLS is describing basically the same process,
main difference being the nature of the powder.
3.2.6 CONCLUSION
There is a rich landscape of available technologies and materials for metal additive
manufacturing. The range of currently available materials is already very large, ranging from
titanium alloys and nickel alloys to high-grade stainless steels and is increasing rapidly. Additive
Manufacturing technologies offering product complexity for free but demanding a new product
design tailored for AM.
CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
4.1 CASE STUDY 1
Metal 3D printing also commonly referred to as metal additive manufacturing (MAM) is a viable
solution for manufacturing topology optimised complex parts. Designing for MAM is entirely
different from designing for a CNC or moulding machine. Designers should strive to achieve a
CAD model/topology optimised parts that require little or no support during printing.
Additionally, lattice integration is another mportant approach towards achieving even lighter
weight and more optimised parts.
CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION
CHAPTER 6
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