Metal 3D Printing Material Scalmalloy Could be the Aircraft Material of the Future https://ift.tt/2JCkuJT
Aviation
is one of the many industries around the world that’s increasing its adoption of 3D printing, which can be used to create the lightweight componentsand complex partsthat are necessary for an airplane. The technology makes these parts with repeatable characteristics and consistently high quality, and can also decrease the amount of time, money, and materials needed to produce them, making the overall supply chain more efficient. Speaking of these materials, we most often hear about components being made with strong thermoplastics and metals, such as titanium. But there’s another metal out there – a lightweight, corrosion-resistant aluminium alloy nearly as strong as titanium – that could be the hero we all need for the future of aircraft. I am of course referring to Scalmalloy, an aluminum-magnesium-scandium alloy developed and patented specifically for metal 3D printing by APWorks. Scalmalloy is a highly ductile material that works on all existing powder bed SLM 3D printers. With a stable microstructure at temperatures of up to 250ºC, it’s highly weldable and can easily be machined for use in industries like aviation and automotive. Additionally, the material was developed specifically to use the lowest buy-to-fly ratio when compared to parts designed and manufactured using conventional methods. Recently, a collaborative group of researchers from the Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) and the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology (ILT) published a paper about another scandium-reinforced aluminum alloy, titled “Selective laser melting of rare earth element Sc modified aluminum alloy: Thermodynamics of precipitation behavior and its influence on mechanical properties,” in the Additive Manufacturing journal.
The researchers fabricated Sc- and Zr-modified AI-Mg alloy using SLM 3D printing, and were then able to provide clarification on the relationships between the convection flow, precipitate distribution, mechanical properties, and scan speed. SEM and TEM characterize the various precipitation behavior between different scan speeds, and a relatively low scan speed helped to evaluate and explain how significantly the material’s hardness had improved. Authors of the paper are Han Zhang, Dongdong Gu, Jiankai Yang, and Donghua Dai from NUAA, and Tong Zhao, Chen Hong, Andres Gasser, and Reinhart Poprawe from Fraunhofer ILT. Discuss this materials research and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below. [Images: APWorks unless otherwise noted] Printing via 3DPrint.com | The Voice of 3D Printing / Additive Manufacturing https://3dprint.com July 20, 2018 at 11:06AM
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