Addsol SLM 3D printers

2021: Use of MISiS for 3D printing from metals of different groups

Scientists at the laboratory "Catalysis and Processing of Hydrocarbons" NITU "MISiS" learned to print 3D products from metals of different groups on the same printer. This was announced by the institute on December 1, 2021. Technology that reduces the cost of 3D products by an average of 30% allows you to obtain both medical products and parts for the aerospace industry. From part of the metals included in the technological pool, it was impossible to manufacture parts even in metallurgical industries.

Metallurgical production is actively going into the 3D format and already includes such areas as aircraft engineering, civil engineering, waste disposal and recycling, light industry (for example, shoe production). The range of materials for additive production is continuously expanding, combining polymers and plastics, metals and alloys, glass and ceramics, concrete and composites.

Scientists at NITU "MISiS" brought metal 3D printing to a new level, presenting a universal production technology for various industries on one. The 3D Printer basis was taken, the 3D printer of the Russian company Addsol design of which was optimized and refined by laboratory engineers. The cost of the printer is about 7 million, rubles which is at least three times cheaper than foreign counterparts.

The multimetallic printing offered by the scientific team is unique in its ability to use various, often very complex, metals and their alloys. To print one group of metals, it was necessary to engineer the printer, optimizing the design, to print others - to modify the materials themselves with the help of additives and catalysts obtained by the team.

For example, magnesium alloys, in principle, cannot be processed without the use of special salt fluxes, since they ignite and burn. The technology included a modification of the printer, selection of modes and a blowing system, which made it possible to print medical magnesium products - various bioresorbable bone clips, maxillofacial implants - minimizing the inevitable gasification of magnesium due to the low boiling point (1090 ^{° C}).

Another example of 3D processing of metallic multimaterials is nitinol or titanium nickelide. It is also widely used to create medical devices due to the presence of unique functional properties, such as superelasticity or shape memory. Printing of articles which, when exposed to external effects in the form of a change in temperature or application of a load, are capable, for example, of performing mechanical work (restoring the shape), is attributed to 4D printing, since by varying the conditions for the synthesis of the material it is possible to control its properties.

One of the interesting and promising applications of the technology, according to the developers themselves, is the printing of permanent magnets from niodim-iron-boron powder. They are used to create generators, electric motors in the automotive and aircraft industries. The production of such magnets using traditional technologies is a multi-stage, expensive process. 3D printing reduced the number of synthesis steps and ultimately reduced the cost of the part itself. In addition, additive manufacturing makes it possible to synthesize magnets not only in the form of a disk or parallelepiped, but also in any complex form.

As of December 2021, the team is completing work on printing from bronze and copper, which can be used, in particular, for rocket engines.