Have you ever thought about printing true, perfect stainless steel works in 3D ? For many people, the printed appearance and tactile effects of this material are often unsatisfactory. In this article, we will focus on how to use stainless steel for 3D printing, how to choose colors and post-processing methods, and how to make the corresponding 3D design.
Materials and Technology: The key is stainless steel powder
The technique used in stainless steel 3D printing is indirect metal printing, which creates a printed object by bonding fine steel powder layer by layer from bottom to top. In contrast, other metals like titanium and aluminum are usually printed using direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) without the use of an adhesive.
In stainless steel 3D printers , a very thin layer of steel powder is first spread, and the print head moves back and forth on this layer, depositing adhesive at specific points, leaving loose areas where no adhesive is deposited. Stainless steel powder.
After this layer is completed, the heater above will dry it, then lay a new layer of steel powder, repeat the process, layer by layer until the printing process is completed, the maximum molding size of this technology. Up to 762 x 393 x 393mm.
After the printing is completed, the stainless steel parts are placed in a curing oven for sintering, and then the excess powder is removed. But the parts printed at this time are still very fragile, it needs to be soaked in a groove system, and a bronze liquid is used instead of the adhesive, which is why the final 3D printed product has a chemical composition of 60% steel and 40. The reason for the % copper is that it has a density of 7.86 g/cm3.
After this step, we have obtained a sturdy stainless steel part that can be sanded repeatedly for the final surface smoothing.
Post-processing: a wide choice
i. The materialise website offers the following seven different polishing and plating effects.
Polishing can achieve a variety of effects: (1) primary color, (2) gold plating, (3) black, (4) brown;
When polishing, some small holes will be darker than the surface because they are not polished, and the polished surface will show a smooth and smooth effect. The gold effect can be achieved by electroless plating.
Effects that can be achieved without polishing: (5) Unpolished primary colors (6) Unpolished gold plating (7) Unpolished black.
If you need a metal part with higher precision than titanium and aluminum, more detailed stainless steel is a good choice. If you are interested in metal printing with very smooth surface, you should look at brass, bronze, silver. , gold and copper.
Stainless steel 3D printing design rules
Similar to other 3D printed materials , stainless steel also has some specific design principles. Following these principles will help you get more done with less, especially when it comes to wall thickness, edges and transitions.
Choose the correct minimum wall thickness
The wall thickness depends largely on the size of your model. If the model size is increased, the corresponding minimum wall thickness should also be thickened. You can refer to the minimum wall thickness requirements on the X, Y and Z axes in different ranges in the chart. From the above figure we can see that if there is good support, a small model like a ring, the minimum wall thickness can be only 1mm, the medium-sized object wall thickness is between 1.5 mm and 2 mm, for large For objects, it is strongly recommended that the wall thickness be at least 3 mm.
Choosing the right wall thickness will make your model stronger, but the fragile part will still have the risk of cracking and breaking, which is why the unsupported overhang structure requires additional reinforcement and should be 6mm thick.
Edge and corner:
To ensure that your model can be printed, the wall thickness and corners in the design are also important: to avoid sharp edges, a smooth transition is key. In the late soaking stage, the rates of thermal expansion (expansion) and cooling (shrinkage) of different layer thicknesses are different, so the wall thickness should be as uniform as possible to minimize the possibility of cracking. You can design the corners of the model to be as round as possible according to the minimum layer thickness map.
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