Page 15 - MetalForming February 2015

Additive Manufacturing
ance comparable to conventionally man- ufactured M2 tool steels and a uniform microstructure. Importantly, these prop- erties reportedly were achieved without the need for post-processing, including heat treatment, reducing production cost and lead times.
extending the reach of steel into markets currently served by WC-Co, ceramics and other nonferrous metal matrix-metal com- posites, NanoSteel has the potential to gen- erate cost-efficient wear parts to serve the tooling, mining, energy and transportation industries in applications such as pumps, bearings and cutting tools.” www.nanosteelco.com
Says Harald Lemke, NanoSteel’s gen- eral manager of engineered powders: “By
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ROLLBLOCKS
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Maximize your options, with a HUGE VARIETY from Hilma for easy, safe movement of dies on stamping presses.
Variations (shown above) can be found at clrh.com/hilma in Hilma’s online catalog.
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system to support the production of tita- nium propulsion tanks. Starting with a 3D model from a CAD program, Sciaky’s fully articulated, moving electron-beam gun deposits metal via wire feedstock, layer by layer, until the part reaches near-net shape. From there, the part requires minor post-production machining.
The 110- by 110- by 110-in. build enve- lope of the EBAM system will allow Lock- heed Martin to produce large titanium parts, with virtually no waste. www.sciaky.com
Metal-Matrix Composites Fit the Bill for Tooling and Other Wear Parts
The NanoSteel Co., Providence, RI, has expanded its engineered-powders business into additive manufacturing. By leveraging its uniform metal-matrix microstructures in the laser-sintering process, the com- pany’s initial focus in additive manufac- turing supports the market need for on- demand, onsite wear parts while addressing the current challenges in 3D printing of high-hardness parts.
NanoSteel’s breakthrough overcomes one of the major hurdles to achieving a high-hardness metallic part through addi- tive manufacturing: the tendency to devel- op cracks during part builds. It worked with a global process-development partner to optimize processing of a proprietary Nano- Steel alloy with a high volume fraction of borocarbide phases. This successfully produced a fully dense (99.9 percent) crack-free part with hardness values exceeding 1000 HV, as well as wear resist-
www.metalformingmagazine.com
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