{"id":10726,"date":"2018-12-13T01:00:37","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T01:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/?p=10726"},"modified":"2020-04-08T09:42:42","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T09:42:42","slug":"scientists-double-solidity-3d-printed-aluminum-131220184","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/scientists-double-solidity-3d-printed-aluminum-131220184\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists Double the Solidity of 3D Printed Aluminum"},"content":{"rendered":"

In Russia, scientists from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST MISIS) presented their research on a method of producing ultra-high purity alumina (UHPA) capable of doubling the strength of printed aluminum composites In 3D.\u00a0We would have components similar to the strength of those made of titanium alloy. A material highly prized in the aerospace industry for its weight to strength ratio.<\/p>\n

We know that the automotive, aerospace and medical industries are looking for savings in weight, manufacturing time but also cost savings. All reasons that explain their interest in\u00a0additive metal manufacturing,<\/a>\u00a0particularly with titanium, aluminum and steel. Aluminum is a light material that can be easily molded, two essential requirements for a metal to be 3D printed.\u00a0However, it is not strong and resistant enough. Thus making the use of titanium with a strength six times higher is preferred.\u00a0Russian researchers have therefore wanted to increase this strength and propose a new method of powder production.<\/p>\n

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Aluminum is burned in the powder purification stage (photo credits: NUST MISIS)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

A purer aluminum powder<\/h3>\n

The team explains that it uses aluminum granules with a purity of 99.7%.\u00a0By oxidation, alkaline and acid treatment and thermal calcination at 1450 \u00b0 C, the granules are converted into aluminum hydroxide.\u00a0At each stage of the process, the researchers check the impurities of the oxide, especially those of iron and potassium, which have proven to be the most problematic.\u00a0With these data, the team then modifies the chemical treatments, washing and calcination, giving a UHPA with a purity of 99.99% and 99.999%.<\/p>

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Although the optimum powder processing conditions remain to be determined, the NUST MISIS team explains that it is already using this material to develop 3D printed prototypes using\u00a0selective laser sintering<\/a>.\u00a0She would have obtained parts with a third of the resistance of titanium.\u00a0Professor Alexander Gromov explains, “We\u00a0have developed a\u00a0technology to\u00a0strengthen the aluminum-matrix composites obtained by\u00a03D\u00a0printing, and we\u00a0have obtained innovative precursor-modifiers by\u00a0burning aluminum powders. Combustion products\u00a0\u2014 nitrides and aluminum oxides\u00a0\u2014 are specifically prepared for sintering branched surfaces with transition nanolayers formed between the particles. It\u00a0is\u00a0the special properties and structure of\u00a0the surface that allows the particles to\u00a0be\u00a0firmly attached to\u00a0the aluminum matrix and, as\u00a0a\u00a0result, [doubles] the strength of\u00a0the obtained composites<\/em>“<\/p>\n

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Some pieces printed with UHPA powder (photo credits: NUST MISIS)<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

One of the main advantages of this UHPA powder production method is its low cost, which makes it possible to maintain a high profitability during the application of the material.\u00a0You can find all the research work\u00a0HERE<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What do you think of this 3D printed aluminum?\u00a0Let us know what you think in a comment below or on our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0pages!\u00a0Don\u2019t forget to sign up for our free weekly\u00a0Newsletter<\/a>, with all the latest news in 3D printing delivered straight to your inbox!<\/p>\n

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In Russia, scientists from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST MISIS) presented their research on a method of producing ultra-high purity alumina (UHPA) capable of doubling the strength of printed aluminum composites In 3D.\u00a0We would have components similar…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6060,"featured_media":10728,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10726","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-research"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10726","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6060"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10726"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10726\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19999,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10726\/revisions\/19999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10726"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10726"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.3dnatives.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10726"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}