Aluminum alloys have the advantages of high strength, corrosion resistance, and strong recyclability, and are considered to be ideal materials for lightweight automobiles. 3D printing + aluminum alloys have been used by manufacturers to develop special parts including complex geometries, and conformal cooling channels. However, due to low economic benefits, this technology has not been widely used in automobile production, and casting and mold opening is still the mainstream production methods. How to solve the high cost of 3D printing and truly promote it to mass production is an opportunity and challenge for 3D printing companies.
Alloy Enterprises, a 3D printing startup, has developed a new 3D printing process designed to deliver high-yield fully dense aluminum parts, enabling manufacturers to scale from prototyping to mass production. This selective diffusion bonding process, designed for aluminum, uses proprietary flake aluminum as the raw material, rather than powder. It is understood that this new process will be able to expand the scale of production, reduce costs and improve safety and ease of use; at the same time, it will help 3D printing to gain wider application in verticals such as automotive and industrial, and eventually replace traditional castings such as casting craft.
Towards mass production, the material is the key
Selective diffusion bonding is a sheet-based process that is a type of layered solid fabrication. In terms of materials, the company did not invent a new manufacturing method to produce their new aluminum feedstock but obtained it by using the same aluminum rolling process used for aluminum foil and soda cans. It is said that the cost is 1/25 of the aluminum powder. In addition to cost, not using powder also eliminates steps such as baking, sieving, and de-powdering. Rolled aluminum does not have the hazards inherent to metal powders, the process does not require protective equipment such as respirators or special storage, and there is no risk of material explosion.
2 machines cooperate, cut and glue
Selective diffusion bonding used 2 machines. The first, called the Construct machine, uses a laser to cut the outline of a part and stack the sheets, then apply an inhibitor to certain areas of the material to form supports. At the same time, the machine can also scan and inspect each layer to ensure product quality and improve the success rate of printing.
Once these are complete, the operator moves the part to the Bond machine. In this machine, the parts go through a diffusion bonding process to fuse sheets of material together, except for the inhibitor-coated areas. In the diffusion bonding process, the sheets are stacked into one piece of material, then the support material is removed and heat treated to obtain the final part.
Like conventional castings, secondary finishing can be done by CNC, but 3D printing can produce complex geometries and conformal cooling channels compared to casting. In addition, produced with high-strength aluminum alloys (such as 6061), its mechanical properties are superior to traditional cast parts, and the time required is shorter.
In order to realize the real economic mass production of metal 3D printing, more new technologies are needed. We also expect similar innovations from domestic enterprises, which will bring more surprises to the future 3D printing market.