Metal desk qualified the use of 4140 low alloy steel for the production system platform, which takes advantage of the patent-pending single pass jet (SPJ) designed to achieve the fastest build speeds in the metal additive manufacturing industry. Desktop Metal is the first and only company to qualify 4140 low alloy steel for use with metal binder jetting systems, enabling its use in mass production end-use part applications, boasts the , a specialist in mass production additive manufacturing.
Considered one of the most versatile low-alloy steels, 4140 is characterized by its toughness, high tensile strength, and resistance to abrasion and impact. It is an essential general purpose and heat treatable steel widely used in a variety of automotive, oil & gas and industrial applications, such as gears, downhole tool components, couplings, pins, bolts and nuts and many other mechanical parts.
“4140 has been a difficult material for metal binder jetting due to its low alloy content, stringent carbon control requirements, and low ignition energy, which together require advanced binder chemistry. , as well as extensive optimization of printing and sintering and atmospheric controls for safe processing,” said Jonah Myerberg, co-founder and CTO of Desktop Metal. “We are thrilled to be the first to qualify the 4140 for metal binder jetting to utilize this versatile material for the AM industry Thanks to the speed of the production system, companies can now use binder jetting to print complex 4140 parts at competitive costs while retaining the strength and mechanical properties of traditionally manufactured alternatives.This is a breakthrough solution for fabricators who have been tied to lengthy machining processes and expensive and to conventional tool-based manufacturing processes. »
Key apps
Desktop Metal’s Materials Science team has validated that 4140 low alloy steel printed on production system technology and sintered by Desktop Metal meets the MPIF 35 standards for powder metallurgy structural parts established by the Metal Powder Industries Federation. 4140 parts printed on the production system platform not only eliminates tooling usage and minimizes material waste, but also represents a significant decrease in production time and part cost compared to conventional manufacturing methods .
Power steering seal: This joint is used for power transfer between an electric power steering motor and the steering shaft in an automobile. The 4140 offers excellent strength and hardness, which is essential for the splined teeth that connect this part to the rest of its assembly. While production using a conventional press and sinter process would require an expensive mold, the P-50 production system enables tool-free production, reducing lead times and allowing for more flexible design for quantities up to to 1.2 million per year at a fully loaded room cost as low as $2.45.
Herringbone Gear: Herringbone gears, found in a variety of industrial machinery applications, benefit from the excellent hardness of 4140 low alloy steel and can be lightened using complex lattice designs made possible by the additive manufacturing, reducing the cost of materials and reducing wear on external components, such as motors and bearings. This part can be mass produced on the P-50 production system in quantities up to 200,000 per year with 120 parts nested in each build.
Linear Pneumatic Piston: Linear pneumatic pistons are used to convert air pressure into rotary motion through a rack and pinion with 4140 providing the toughness and wear resistance required for this application. These parts are traditionally assembled from multiple components due to the geometry and cost limitations of conventional manufacturing processes. The P-50 production system can produce up to 690,000 parts per year at a cost as low as $0.28 per cubic centimeter of low alloy 4140 sintered steel.
Lever drive: Lever drives are often used in machine design to linearly adjust the location of components in a machine. Binder Jetting easily facilitates features such as the precise grooves essential for locating the correct position of external components. While producing an average volume of 10,000 parts would not be cost effective with conventional manufacturing given the upfront tooling costs or labor costs associated with machining, the P- 50 can print the required quantities in a day with sintered parts ready in less than a week.
The production system
Created by the inventors of binder jetting and single-pass inkjet technology, the production system is an industrial manufacturing platform powered by Desktop Metal’s SPJ technology. It is designed to achieve speeds up to 100 times faster than older powder bed fusion additive manufacturing technologies and enable the production of quantities of up to millions of parts per year at competitive costs compared to conventional mass production techniques.
The production system platform consists of two printer models: the P-1, a solution for process development and mass production applications, and the P-50, a solution for mass production at large form factor for end-use parts, with commercial shipments expected to begin in the second half of 2021.
The production system combines engineered Desktop Metal binders with an open materials platform, allowing customers to produce high-performance parts using the same low-cost metal powders used in the metal injection molding industry (MIM). An inert processing environment allows for compatibility with a variety of materials, including low alloy 4140 steel as well as other high performance alloys and even reactive metals, such as aluminum and titanium.
Today, the Production System platform material library includes 17-4 PH stainless steel, 316L stainless steel and 4140 low alloy steel, each of which has been qualified by Desktop Metal. The platform also supports several customer-qualified materials, including silver and gold, and Desktop Metal plans to add additional metals to its portfolio, including tool steels, stainless steels, superalloys , copper, etc.
