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While interested in other AM materials such as polymer, wood, and resin, Massachusetts-based Desktop Metal (NYSE: DM) is primarily a metal 3D printing company; it’s in the name, after all. The publicly traded unicorn 3D printing company announced that it is working with Uniformity Labs to sinter aluminum using binder jet technology, and that it has qualified 316L stainless steel. for high volume additive manufacturing with its industrial production system, which uses patent pending Single Pass Jet (SPJ) technology. Now, it has been revealed that the company has qualified 4140 low alloy steel for high volume printing of end use parts, again for the DM production system.
This material is considered to be extremely versatile in the family of low alloy steels because it can be heat treated and therefore can be used in the automotive, industrial and oil and gas sectors for applications such as bolts and nuts, downhole tool components, couplings, gears and spindles. Desktop Metal claims to be the first and only company to date to qualify 4140 low alloy steel for use with metal binder jet printers.
Power steering joints are used for the transfer of power between an electric power steering motor and the steering shaft in an automobile. While production using a conventional press and sintering process would require an expensive mold, the P-50 production system enables tool-less production, reducing lead times and allowing more flexible design for quantities. going up to 1.2 million per year at a fully loaded part cost as as low as $ 2.45.
“4140 has been a difficult material for the metal binder jet due to its low alloy content, strict carbon control requirements, and low ignition energy, which together require advanced binder chemistry. , as well as extensive printing and sintering optimization and atmospheric controls for safe processing. We are excited to be the first to qualify 4140 for Metal Binder Jetting to enable this versatile material for the additive manufacturing industry, â€said Jonah Myerberg, Co-Founder and CTO of Desktop Metal. “With the speed of the production system, companies can now use the binder jet to print complex 4140 parts at competitive costs while maintaining the strength and mechanical properties of traditionally manufactured alternatives. This is a revolutionary solution for manufacturers who have been linked with long and expensive machining processes and conventional tool-based manufacturing processes.
This all-purpose steel material, which exhibits high tensile strength, toughness, and abrasion and impact resistance, was validated by the company’s materials science team, who concluded that the 4140 , printed on the DM production system and sintered by Desktop Metal, meets Metal Powder Industries Foundation (MPIF) 35 standards for structural powder metallurgy parts. So now this low alloy steel can be used to mass produce solid 3D printed parts that should withstand mechanical stress, high temperatures and impact well.
Lever drives are often used in machine design to linearly adjust the location of components in a machine. The binder jet easily facilitates features such as precise grooves essential for locating the correct position of external components.
According to Desktop Metal, parts 3D printed on 4140 on its production system show a significant decrease in part cost and production time compared to other conventional manufacturing methods, and can also reduce material waste and eliminate waste. tools. The production system includes two printer models, the P-1 for mass production and the P-50 large format for mass production, and combines an open materials platform with Desktop Metal’s own designed filing cabinets. The printer’s inert processing environment makes the system compatible with many materials, including titanium, aluminum, and now 4140 low alloy steel for end-use parts.
Examples of some of these parts include a power steering joint, which is used to transfer power between a car’s electric power steering motor and the steering shaft. In particular, the fluted teeth of this part which connect it to the rest of the assembly benefit from the great strength and hardness of the 4140. Instead of using an expensive conventional mold during pressing and sintering, 3D printing of this part on the P-50 production system means less lead time, no tooling and a flexible design.
4140 can also be used to 3D print lever controls, which help adjust the location of machine components in a linear fashion; Binder jet technology is particularly useful here in terms of the precise grooves required to locate the position of any external component. Due to the cost of machining and tooling labor costs, it would not be very cost effective to print an average volume of 10,000 of these parts using conventional fabrication, but Desktop Metal claims its printing system. P-50 production can handle the job in less than a week.
Herringbone gears benefit from the excellent hardness of 4140 low alloy steel and can be lightened using complex lattice designs made possible by additive manufacturing. This part can be mass-produced on the P-50 production system in quantities of up to 200,000 per year.
The hardness of 4140 low alloy steel is especially good for herringbone gears, which are used in many industrial machine applications and can be lightened by the complex lattice designs that 3D printing can create, reducing costs. material costs as well as wear and tear on external components, such as bearings and motors. When nesting 120 of these gears in a build on the P-50 production system, Desktop Metal says it is possible to mass produce them in quantities of up to 200,000 per year.
This newly qualified material can also be used to print linear pneumatic pistons, which use a rack and pinion to convert air pressure into rotary motion. Using the 4140 for this application is believed to provide improved toughness and wear resistance for these parts, which are typically assembled from many components due to the lack of complex geometry that conventional manufacturing can offer.
This linear pneumatic piston is 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. 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 sintered 4140 low alloy steel.
According to the new “Metal parts produced in 2021: market analysis of additive manufacturing applicationsSmarTech Analysis report, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has plunged global manufacturing “into a state of protracted turmoil,” from which it is still trying to recover. While Desktop Metal reported net losses of $ 59.1 million in the first quarter of 2021, it also reported that its revenue was up 35% from the previous quarter, and CFO James Haley said the company not only expects to generate revenues of over $ 100 million for the full year, but also to see sequential quarterly growth throughout 2021. Qualifying more materials for its production system should certainly help in this. business.
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