Expanded Material Capabilities for Additive Manufacturing
March 1, 2016
The NanoSteel Company has announced the expansion of the company's additive manufacturing (AM) material capabilities to support metal 3-D printing of complex high hardness parts and the ability to customize properties layer-by-layer through gradient material design.
The company leveraged its 2014 breakthrough in AM wear materials to print a bearing and impeller using the powder bed fusion process. These parts were measured to be fully dense and crack-free, with hardness levels >1000 HV. "By delivering these properties in functional parts, NanoSteel takes a step in the development of metal powders that enable affordable, robust industrial components produced on-demand through the 3-D-printing process," said a company spokesperson.
NanoSteel used a combination of high hardness and ductile alloys to create a part featuring a gradient design. NanoSteel worked with Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology to generate part samples using freeform direct laser deposition. This single additive manufacturing process achieved a seamless transition between the hard and ductile properties without subsequent heat treatment.
"These gradient materials designs offer the equivalent of digital case hardening - delivering impact resistance and overall robustness in addition to high hardness and wear resistance in a single part," said the spokesperson. By providing this capability, NanoSteel offers OEMs design flexibility in meeting part-performance requirements while taking advantage of the operational efficiencies of AM including on-demand availability, less inventory and lower transportation costs.
"Proprietary metal alloys that support the cost-effective 3-D printing of high-quality parts will help accelerate the transition from subtractive to additive manufacturing across applications such as wear parts, bearings and cutting tools," said Harald Lemke, NanoSteel's General Manager of Engineered Powders. "The company's AM powder offerings make it possible to design exclusively for the function of a high hardness part, releasing designers from the limitations of conventional production processes and opening new opportunities to improve performance." The company's targeted markets for its AM powder portfolio are tool and die, energy, auto and agriculture.
For more information contact:
The NanoSteel Company
272 West Exchange Street, Suite 300
Providence, RI 02903
877-293-NANO
info@nanosteelco.com
www.nanosteelco.com
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