Materials and performance
High material performance and state of the art alloys
Many metal Additive Manufacturing principles are based on a welding process. Thus, materials require good weldability to achieve stable fusion processes. The sinter-based AM processes, however, achieve a solid metallic part through sintering of a green body. This allows the use of different material groups, where weldability is of no concern.
Always depending on the material and application, in PBF processes, 20 to 40% of the raw part costs are associated to material costs. In powder based DED processes, such as Laser Powder Deposition, the material can make up 70 % of the raw part cost, in Wire Arc Deposition even up to 80 %. Thus, it is of utter importance to understand the cost structure behind the different processes and feedstock systems.
The materials section will cover the most important material groups that are today in use in metal Additive Manufacturing. Furthermore, a detailed look on material groups, feedstock types and cost as well as binder systems will be provided.
More about materials