5 Werkstofftechnik
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Organisationseinheit der BAM
- 5 Werkstofftechnik (55)
- 5.4 Multimateriale Fertigungsprozesse (32)
- 8 Zerstörungsfreie Prüfung (16)
- 8.5 Röntgenbildgebung (16)
- 9 Komponentensicherheit (16)
- 5.1 Mikrostruktur Design und Degradation (14)
- 5.2 Metallische Hochtemperaturwerkstoffe (13)
- 9.4 Integrität von Schweißverbindungen (8)
- 9.6 Additive Fertigung metallischer Komponenten (5)
- 9.3 Schweißtechnische Fertigungsverfahren (4)
- 5.0 Abteilungsleitung und andere (2)
- 5.5 Materialmodellierung (2)
- 6 Materialchemie (1)
- 6.3 Strukturanalytik (1)
Hybrid additive manufacturing plays a crucial role in the restoration of gas turbine blades, where e.g., the damaged blade tip is reconstructed by the additive manufacturing process on the existing blade made of a parent nickel-based alloy. However, inherent process-related defects in additively manufactured material, along with the interface created between the additively manufactured and the cast base material, impact the fatigue crack growth behavior in bi-material components. This study investigates the fatigue crack growth behavior in bi-material specimens of nickel-based alloys, specifically, additively manufactured STAL15 and cast alloy 247DS. The tests were conducted at 950 °C with stress ratios of 0.1 and -1. Metallographic and fractographic investigations were carried out to understand crack growth mechanisms. The results revealed significant retardation in crack growth at the interface. This study highlights the potential contributions of residual stresses and microstructural differences to the observed crack growth retardation phenomenon, along with the conclusion from an earlier study on the effect of yield strength mismatch on crack growth behavior at a perpendicular interface in bi-material specimens.
Metal additive manufacturing (Metal AM) continues to gain momentum. Many companies explore the manufacturing of innovative products, including components for safety critical applications. Despite the intensive research of recent years, a fundamental understanding of the process‑structure‑property relationships remains challenging due to, i.a., the inherently complex and highly hierarchical microstructures arising from the wide range of build process parameter variability. This contribution presents the resu lts of an experimental study on the creep behavior of an austenitic 316L stainless steel produced by laser powder bed fusion (PBF LB/M/316L) with an emphasis on understanding the effects of microstructure on creep mechanisms. Hot tensile tests and constant force creep tests at 600 °C and 650 °C, X ray computed tomography, as well as optical and electron microscopy were performed. The produced PBF LB/M/316L exhibits a low void population 0.01 %) resulting from the manufacturing parameters used and which a llowed us to understand the effects of other microstructural aspects on creep behavior, e.g., grain morphology and dislocation substructure. A hot‑rolled variant of 316L hwas also tested as a reference. The produced PBF LB/M/316L possesses shorter primary and secondary creep stages and times to rupture and smaller creep stress exponents than the hot‑rolled variant. Overall, the creep damage is more extensive in the PBF LB/M/316L and is characterized as predominantly intergranular. It is considered that the damage behavior is mainly impacted by the formation of precipitates at the grain boundaries combined with their unfavorable orientation. The dislocation substructure and local elemental segregation appear to have a decisive impact on the overall creep behavior.
The general term additive manufacturing (AM) encompasses processes that enable the production of parts in a single manufacturing step. Among these, laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) is one of the most commonly used to produce metal components. In essence, a laser locally melts powder particles in a powder bed layer-by-layer to incrementally build a part. As a result, this process offers immense manufacturing flexibility and superior geometric design capabilities compared to conventional processes. However, these advantages come at a cost: the localized processing inevitably induces large thermal gradients, resulting in the formation of large thermal stress during manufacturing. In the best case, residual stress remains in the final parts produced as a footprint of this thermal stress. Since residual stress is well known to exacerbate the structural integrity of components, their assessment is important in two respects. First, to optimize process parameter to minimize residual stress magnitudes. Second, to study their effect on the structural integrity of components (e.g., validation of numerical models). Therefore, a reliable experimental assessment of residual stress is an important factor for the successful application of PBF-LB. In this context, diffraction-based techniques allow the non-destructive characterization of the residual stress. In essence, lattice strain is calculated from interplanar distances by application of Braggs law. From the known lattice strain, macroscopic stress can be determined using Hooke’s law. To allow the accurate assessment of the residual stress distribution by such methods, a couple of challenges in regard of the characteristic PBF-LB microstructures need to be overcome.
This presentation highlights some of the challenges regarding the accurate assessment of residual stress in PBF-LB on the example of the Nickel-based alloy Inconel 718. The most significant influencing factors are the use of the correct diffraction elastic constants, the choice of the stress-free reference, and the consideration of the crystallographic texture. Further, it is shown that laboratory X-ray diffraction methods characterizing residual stress at the surface are biased by the inherent surface roughness. Overall, the impact of the characteristic microstructure is most significant for the selection of the correct diffraction elastic constants. In view of the localized melting and solidification, no significant gradients of the stress-free reference are observed, even though the cell-like solidification sub-structure is known to be heterogeneous on the micro-scale.
The damage mechanisms of metallic components produced by process laser powder bed fusion differ significantly from those typically observed in conventionally manufactured variants of the same alloy. This is due to the unique microstructures of additively manufactured materials. Herein, the focus is on the study of the evolution of creep damage in stainless steel 316L specimens produced by laser powder bed fusion. X-ray computed tomography is used to unravel the influence of the process-specific microstructure from the influence of the initial void distribution on creep damage mechanisms. The void distribution of two specimens tested at 600 °C and 650 °C is analyzed before a creep test, after an interruption, and after fracture. The results indicate that the formation of damage is not connected to the initial void distribution. Instead, damage accumulation at grain boundaries resulting from intergranular cracking is observed.
Laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB/M) of metallic alloys is a layer-wise additive manufacturing process that provides significant scope for more efficient designs of components, benefiting performance and weight, leading to efficiency improvements for various sectors of industry. However, to benefit from these design freedoms, knowledge of the high produced induced residual stress and mechanical property anisotropy associated with the unique microstructures is critical. X-ray and neutron diffraction are considered the benchmark for non-destructive characterization of surface and bulk internal residual stress. The latter, characterized by the high penetration power in most engineering alloys, allows for the use of a diffraction angle close to 90° enabling a near cubic sampling volume to be specified. However, the complex microstructures of columnar growth with inherent crystallographic texture typically produced during PBF-LB/M of metallics present significant challenges to the assumptions typically required for time efficient determination of residual stress. These challenges include the selection of an appropriate set of diffraction elastic constants and a representative lattice plane suitable for residual stress analysis. In this contribution, the selection of a suitable lattice plane family for residual stress analysis is explored. Furthermore, the determination of an appropriate set of diffraction and single-crystal elastic constants depending on the underlying microstructure is addressed.
In-situ loading experiments have been performed at the Swiss Spallation Neutron Source with the main scope to study the deformation behaviour of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718. Cylindrical tensile bars have been subjected to an increasing mechanical load. At pre-defined steps, neutron diffraction data has been collected. After reaching the yield limit, unloads have been performed to study the accumulation of intergranular strain among various lattice plane families.
Motivated by the aim of developing an additive manufacturing (AM) technology easily integrated in the process chains of the ceramic industry, the LSD-print technology was conceived as a slurry-based variation of binder jetting (BJ).
BJ and other powder bed technologies (such as powder bed fusion) are amongst the most successful AM techniques, especially for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability. The possibility to use commercially available feedstocks (in the form of powders or granules) makes BJ also attractive for ceramic materials. The application of these techniques to most advanced ceramics has however been difficult so far, because of the limitations in depositing homogeneous layers with fine, typically poorly flowable powders.
In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) was proposed at TU Clausthal (Germany) as a slurry-based deposition of ceramic layers by means of a doctor blade. Combined with layer-by-layer laser sintering of the material, the LSD process was originally demonstrated for the rapid prototyping of silicate ceramics. Due to the difficulties in controlling the microstructure and the defect formation in laser-sintered technical ceramics, the LSD process was later combined with inkjet printing in the LSD-print technology, which has been further developed at BAM (Germany) in the past decade.
The LSD-print technology combines the high speed of inkjet printing, typical of BJ, with the possibility of producing a variety of high-quality ceramics with properties comparable to those achieved by traditional processing. Due to the mechanical stability of the powder bed, the process can also be carried out with continuous layer deposition on a rotating platform, which further increases its productivity.
This presentation will delve into 10 years of research on the LSD-print of a wide variety of technical ceramics including alumina, silicon carbides and dental ceramics. The discussion highlights how a seemingly small process and feedstock modification (from powders to slurries) has great influence on the challenges and potential of this process, which are being addressed on its path to industrialization.
Powder bed technologies are amongst the most successful Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. The application of these techniques to most ceramics has been difficult so far, because of the challenges related to the deposition of homogeneous powder layers when using fine powders.
In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method enabling the use of powder bed AM technologies also for advanced ceramic materials. The layerwise slurry deposition consists of the layer-by-layer deposition of a ceramic slurry by means of a doctor blade, in which the slurry is deposited and dried to achieve a highly packed powder. Not only very fine, submicron powders can be processed with low organics, but also the dense powder bed provides excellent support to the parts built. The LSD technology can be combined with binder jetting to develop the so-called “LSD-print” process. LSD-print combines the high-speed printing of binder jetting with the possibility of producing a variety of high-quality ceramics with properties comparable to traditional processing.
The latest development of this technology shows that it is possible to print ceramic parts in a continuous process by depositing a layer onto a rotating platform, growing a powder bed following a spiral motion. The unique mechanical stability of the layers in LSD-print allows to grow a powder bed several centimeters thick without any lateral support. The continuous layer deposition allows to achieve a productivity more than 10X higher compared to the linear deposition, approaching a build volume of 1 liter/hour.
The Laser-Induced Slip Casting is an additive manufacturing technology specifically developed for ceramic materials using water-based ceramic slurries. The process takes place layer-by-layer in a similar fashion as top-down vat photopolymerization, selectively consolidating each layer by means of a laser energy source positioned on the top. Contrary to vat photopolymerization, in which the consolidation is achieved by selectively cross-linking a ceramic-filled resin, LIS uses water-based slurries with a low amount of organic additives (typically < 5 wt%) as feedstocks.
In LIS, a green body is formed by local evaporation of water which causes the suspension to collapse forming a cast, following a mechanism similar to slip casting. Only a small content of organic additives is needed to effectively disperse the ceramic particles and to increase the green strength.
The technology is very versatile and can be applied to all ceramic systems that can be dispersed in water. One of the main advantages is that even dark materials such as silicon carbide can be processed without issues related to light scattering and absorption.
The presentation will discuss strengths and limitations of LIS compared to other AM technologies and will highlight the latest results for alumina and for silicon carbide ceramics.
The presentation will start with an overview of ceramic additive manufacturing (AM) technologies and will discuss the potential of AM in the field of bioceramics.
The presentation will then focus on two possible use cases of binder jetting technologies.
In the first example, standard powder-based binder jetting is used to manufacture a porous implant design for large scale bone defects. The related challenges in the process chain will be discussed, from powder synthesis to sintering and characterization of the printed part.
In the second example, the LSD-print slurry-based binder jetting technology is presented as a possibility to adapt powder-bed AM to produce dense ceramic parts. The use case will focus on an application in the field of dental ceramics, specifically for the manufacturing of patient individualized single tooth restorations (veneers, crowns) with a high throughput process chain.
In this presentation, the results of the determination of the diffraction and single-crystal elastic constants of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 are presented. The analysis is based on high-energy synchrotron diffraction experiments performed at the Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron. It is shown that the characteristic microstructure of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 impacts the elastic anisotropy and therefore the diffraction and single-crystal elastic constants. Finally, the consequences on the diffraction-based residual stress determination of laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 are discussed.
Manipulating ceramic powder compacts and ceramic suspensions (slurries) within their volume with light requires a minimum transparency of the materials. Compared to polymers and metals, ceramic materials are unique as they offer a wide electronic band gap and thus a wide optical window of transparency. The optical window typically ranges from below 0.3 µm up to 5µm wavelength. Hence, to penetrate with laser light into the volume of a ceramic powder compound its light scattering properties need to be investigated and tailored. In the present study we introduce the physical background and material development strategies to apply two-photon-polymerization (2PP) for the additive manufacture of filigree structures within the volume of ceramic slurries.
Manipulating ceramic powder compacts and ceramic suspensions (slurries) within their volume with light requires a minimum transparency of the materials. Compared to polymers and metals, ceramic materials are unique as they offer a wide electronic band gap and thus a wide optical window of transparency. The optical window typically ranges from below 0.3 µm up to 5µm wavelength. Hence, to penetrate with laser light into the volume of a ceramic powder compound its light scattering properties need to be investigated and tailored. In the present study we introduce the physical background and material development strategies to apply two-photon-polymerization (2PP) for the additive manufacture of filigree structures within the volume of ceramic slurries.
Manipulating ceramic powder compacts and ceramic suspensions (slurries) within their volume with light requires a minimum transparency of the materials. Compared to polymers and metals, ceramic materials are unique as they offer a wide electronic band gap and thus a wide optical window of transparency. The optical window typically ranges from below 0.3 µm up to 5µm wavelength. Hence, to penetrate with light into the volume of a ceramic powder compound, its light scattering properties need to be investigated and tailored. In the present study we introduce the physical background and material development strategies to apply two-photon-polymerization (2PP), and other volumetric methods for the additive manufacture of filigree structures within the volume of ceramic slurries.
In order to be able to manipulate ceramic powder compacts and ceramic suspensions (slurries) within their volume with light, a minimum transparency of the materials is required. Compared to polymers and metals, ceramic materials are characterized by the fact that they have a wide electronic band gap and therefore a wide optical window of transparency. The optical window generally ranges from less than 0.3 µm to 5 µm wavelength. In order to focus light into the volume of a ceramic powder compact, its light scattering properties must therefore be tailored. In this study, we present the physical background and material development strategies for the application of two-photon polymerization (2PP) and selective volumetric sintering for the additive manufacturing of structures in the volume of ceramic slips and green compacts.
The Binder Jetting BJ process is one of the most versatile additive manufacturing technologies in use. In this process a binder is locally jetted into a powder bed for the consolidation of a 3D structure, layer by layer. Basically, all materials which can be provided as a flowable powder and, thus, spreadable to a thin layer, can be processed. Metals, ceramics and polymers are processable, but also materials from nature, such as sand, wood sawdust and insect frass. Moreover, the BJ technology is adapted to large building volumes of some cubic meters easily. Besides these striking advantages, the manufacture of ceramic parts by BJ is still challenging, as the packing density of the powder bed is generally too low and the particle size of a flowable powder too large for a successful densification of printed parts in a subsequent sintering step to an advanced ceramic product. After an introduction of binder jetting in general and highlighting some examples, strategies for obtaining dense ceramic parts by BJ will be introduced.
Regarding feedstocks for the additive manufacturing (AM) of ceramics, two features are most critical in classical powder based AM processes: a high particle packing density (typically >50% TD) must be achieved with very fine particles (typically submicron) in order to ensure sufficient sintering activity. Three innovative approaches will be introduced to overcome this problem:
1. Layer wise slurry deposition: The use of water based ceramic slurries as feedstock for the additive manufacture of ceramics has many advantages which are not fully exploit yet. In the layerwise slurry deposition (LSD) process a slurry with no or low organic content is repetitively spread as thin layers on each other by means of a doctor blade. During the deposition, the ceramic particles settle on the previously deposited and dried material to form thin layers with a high packing density (55-60%). The LSD therefore shares aspects both of tape casting and slip casting. The LSD differentiates from the classical powder-based AM layer deposition, which typically achieves with a flowable coarse grained powder a low packing density (35-50%) only, consequently hindering the ability of sintering ceramic parts to full density. The LSD is coupled with the principles of selective laser sintering (SLS) or binder jetting, to generate novel processes which take advantage of the possibility of achieving a highly dense powder-bed.
2. Laser induced slip casting: Contrary to the LSD process, which requires drying of each individual layer, the direct interaction of ceramic slurries with intense laser radiation, for the laser induced slip casting (LIS), is a promising approach for the additive manufacture of voluminous parts.
3. Gas flow assisted powder deposition: By the application of a vacuum pump a gas flow is realized throughout the powder bed. This gas flow stabilizes the powder bed and results into an enhanced flowability and packing density of the powder during layer deposition.
The presentation will provide a detailed discussion of potentialities and issues connected to the mentioned technologies and will describe the most recent developments in their application to technical ceramics.
Die additive Fertigung (AM) metallischer Werkstoffe ist eine Technologie, die zunehmend Gegenstand von Forschungsaktivitäten und industrieller Anwendung ist. Dennoch steht sie noch vor Herausforderungen, um eine breite Nutzung in sicherheitsrelevanten Anwendungen zu erreichen. Die Hauptgründe für die Verzögerung des technologischen Durchbruchs zugunsten von AM-Metallen gegenüber konventionell hergestellten Varianten sind das Fehlen eines tieferen Verständnisses der Prozess-Struktur-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen und die begrenzte Verfügbarkeit von Daten zu den Materialeigenschaften. In diesem Kontext stellt diese Arbeit einen Beitrag sowohl zum Verständnis der Prozess-Struktur-Eigenschafts-Beziehungen als auch zur Verbesserung der Datenlage von 316L dar, einem häufig als Konstruktionswerkstoff in verschiedenen Hochtemperaturbauteilen verwendeten Werkstoff. Die Arbeit legt den Fokus auf die mittels Laser-Pulverbettschmelzen hergestellte Werkstoffvariante, PBF-LB/M/316L. Eine konventionell hergestellte Variante, HR/316L, wurde auch untersucht. Bei PBF-LB/M/316L wurde zusätzlich der Effekt ausgewählter Wärmebehandlungen ausgewertet. Die Untersuchung umfasste die Charakterisierung der mechanischen Eigenschaften und der Verformungs- und Schädigungsmechanismen bei erhöhten Prüftemperaturen bei LCF und Kriechen, wo die Daten und Wissenslage am spärlichsten ist. Außerdem hat die untersuchte PBF-LB/M/316L-Wersktoffvariante einen geringen Porositätsgrad. Somit hat diese Arbeit die Mikrostruktur stärker in den Fokus genommen als die meisten bisher in der Literatur verfügbaren Studien.
Die mechanische Prüfkampagne umfasste Zugversuche zwischen Raumtemperatur und 650 °C, LCF-Versuche zwischen Raumtemperatur und 600 °C sowie Kriechversuche bei 600 °C und 650 °C. In Ermangelung konkreter Richtlinien und Normen wurde die Charakterisierung zumeist anhand der bestehenden internationalen Prüfnormen und Probengeometrien durchgeführt. Aus jedem dieser Prüfverfahren wurden die entsprechenden Festigkeits- und Verformungskennwerte ermittelt. Darüber hinaus wurde mit Hilfe gezielter mikrostruktureller Untersuchungen ein Beitrag zum Verständnis des Zusammenhangs zwischen der Mikrostruktur und den mechanischen Eigenschaften in Bezug auf die Verformungs- und Schädigungsmechanismen geleistet.
Die Dehngrenze von PBF-LB/M/316L ist etwa doppelt so hoch wie die von HR/316L und dieser Trend setzt sich mit ansteigender Prüftemperatur fort. Die Bruchdehnung ist bei allen Prüftemperaturen geringer. PBF-LB/M/316L weist über den größten Teil der Ermüdungslebensdauer vor allem bei Raumtemperatur höhere zyklische Spannungen als HR/316L auf. Ausschließlich bei den kleinsten Dehnungs-schwingbreiten sind die Ermüdungslebensdauer ausgeprägt kürzer. Das Wechselverformungsverhalten von PBF-LB/M/316L ist durch eine Anfangsverfestigung gefolgt von einer kontinuierlichen Entfestigung charakterisiert, welche bis zum Auftreten der zum Versagen führenden Entfestigung stattfindet. Die Kriechbruchzeiten und die Dauer jeder Kriechphase sind bei allen Kombinationen von Prüfparametern bei PBF-LB/M/316 kürzer als bei HR/316L. Die Spannungsabhängigkeit von PBF-LB/M/316L ist im Vergleich zu HR/316L geringer und die Duktilität beim Kriechen kleiner. Die minimale Kriechrate wird bei allen geprüften Parameterkombinationen bei deutlich geringeren Kriechdehnungen erreicht. Eine Wärmebehandlung bei 450 °C / 4 h bewirkt keine wesentliche Änderungen der Mikrostruktur und Zugversuchseigenschaften. Eine zusätzliche Wärmebehandlung bei 900 °C / 1 h verursacht eine Abnahme der Dehngrenze des PBF-LB/M/316L. Diese blieb aber immer noch um den Faktor 1,5x höher als bei HR/316L. Die Verformungsmerkmale wurden kaum davon beeinflusst. Bezüglich des Kriechverhaltens hat die Wärmebehandlung bei 900 °C / 1 h längere sekundäre und tertiäre Kriechstadien bewirkt und die Kriechdehnung hat sich signifikant erhöht. Die Bruchbilder unterscheiden sich generell nicht nur aber vor allem mit ansteigender Prüftemperatur, bei der bei PBF-LB/M/316L oft interkristalline Rissbildung beobachtet wurde. Die Zellstruktur trägt als der Hauptfaktor zu den unterschiedlichen mechanischen Eigenschaften im Vergleich zur HR/316L-Variante bei. Darüber hinaus spielen mutmaßlich die Kornmorphologie, die Stapelfehlerenergie und der Stickstoffgehalt eine Rolle.
Additive Manufacturing for dental restorations by layerwise slurry deposition (LSD-print) technology
(2023)
The growing market of custom-made dental restorations offers a major potential for an application of ceramic additive manufacturing (AM).
The possibility to individualize patient specific design and to establish new efficient workflows, from model generation to manufacturing, can be fully exploited by AM technologies. However, for mass customization to be truly envisioned, ceramic AM needs to achieve a level of maturity, aesthetic quality, and productivity comparable to established manufacturing processes.
In this presentation, the potential of the “layerwise slurry deposition” LSD-print technology for dental applications will be explored. It has been shown in the past years that the LSD-print can be applied to advanced ceramic materials such as alumina and silicon-infiltrated silicon carbide. For these materials, the LSD-print technology combines the high-speed printing of binder jetting with the possibility of producing a variety of high-quality ceramics.
The current development deals with the challenges of applying this technology to a feldspar dental material, comparing the quality of AM restorations with the equivalent material for an established CAD/CAM workflow.
Preliminary results not only indicate that the AM material produced by LSD-print can be competitive in terms of mechanical properties, but also that aesthetically satisfactory restorations can be manufactured for veneers, inlays and onlays as well as single unit fixed dental prostheses (FDPs).
The presentation focuses on the material and technological challenges alongside the process chain, from the printing process, to debinding, firing and finishing the restorations.
The presentation gives an overview of two slurry-based additive manufacturing (AM) technologies specifically developed for advanced ceramic materials.
The “Layerwise Slurry Deposition” (LSD-print) is a modification of Binder Jetting making use of a ceramic slurry instead of a dry powder as a feedstock. In this process, a slurry is deposited layer-by-layer by means of a doctor blade and dried to achieve a highly packed powder layer, which is then printed by jetting a binder. The LSD-print technology combines the high-speed printing of binder jetting with the possibility of producing a variety of high-quality ceramics with properties comparable to those achieved by traditional processing.
The Laser Induced Slip casting (LIS) technology follows a novel working principle by locally drying and selectively consolidating layer-by-layer a ceramic green body in a vat of slurry, using a laser as energy source. LIS combines elements of Vat Photopolymerization with the use of water-based feedstocks containing a minimal amount of organic additives. The resulting technology can be directly integrated into a traditional ceramic process chain by manufacturing green bodies that are sintered without the need of a dedicated debinding.
Both technologies offer high flexibility in the ceramic feedstock used, especially concerning material and particle size. Advantages and disadvantages are briefly described to outline the specific features of LSD-print and LIS depending on the targeted application.
Inconel 718 (IN718) is a traditional age-hardenable nickel-based alloy that has been increasingly processed by additive manufacturing (AM) in recent years. In the as-solidified condition, IN718 exhibits chemical segregation and the undesired Laves phase, requiring a solution annealing (SA) prior to aging. The material produced by AM does not respond to the established thermal routines in the same way as conventionally produced IN718, and there is still no consensus on which routine yields optimal results. This work aims to provide a fundamental understanding of the heat treatment (HT) response by continuously monitoring the microstructural evolution during SA via time-resolved synchrotron x-ray diffraction, complemented by ex-situ scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The samples were produced by laser powder bed fusion to a geometry of 10x20x90 mm³, from which Ø1x5 mm³ cylindric specimens were extracted. Two different scanning strategies – incremental 67° rotations, Rot, and alternating 0°/67° tracks, Alt – were used, leading to two different as-built conditions. 1-hour SAs were carried out in the beamline ID22 of the ESRF at 50 KeV. Two SA temperatures, SA1 = 1020 °C, and SA2 = 1080 °C were tested for each scanning strategy. Data were processed using the software PDIndexer. In the as-built state, all samples showed typical subgrain columnar cell structures with predominant Nb/Mo segregation and Laves phase at the cell walls, as seen by SEM. The Alt scan induced higher intensity on the Laves peaks than the Rot scan, suggesting a greater content of Laves. Chemical homogenization in the SA was largely achieved during the heating ramp (Fig. 1). SA2 eliminated the Laves peaks just before reaching 1080 °C, and mitigated differences between Rot and Alt samples. On the other hand, SA1 induced the precipitation of the generally detrimental δ phase, also observed by SEM. Furthermore, the Rot scan showed higher δ peak intensities than the Alt scan, indicating a higher content of δ in the latter. No signs of recrystallization were observed in any of the investigated SAs.
The damage mechanisms of metallic components produced by process laser powder bed fusion differ significantly from those typically observed in conventionally manufactured variants of the same alloy. This is due to the unique microstructures of additively manufactured materials. Herein, the focus is on the study of the evolution of creep damage in stainless steel 316L specimens produced by laser powder bed fusion. X-ray computed tomography is used to unravel the influence of the process-specific microstructure from the influence of the initial void distribution on creep damage mechanisms. The void distribution of two specimens tested at 600 °C and 650 °C is analyzed before a creep test, after an interruption, and after fracture. The results indicate that the formation of damage is not connected to the initial void distribution. Instead, damage accumulation at grain boundaries resulting from intergranular cracking is observed.
Powder bed technologies are amongst the most successful Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. Powder bed fusion and binder jetting especially are leading AM technologies for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability. The application of these techniques to most ceramics has been difficult so far, because of the challenges related to the deposition of homogeneous powder layers when using fine powders. In this context, the “layerwise slurry deposition” (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method which enables the use of powder bed AM technologies also for advanced ceramic materials. The layerwise slurry deposition consists of the layer-by-layer deposition of a ceramic slurry by means of a doctor blade, in which the slurry is deposited and dried to achieve a highly packed powder layer. This offers high flexibility in the ceramic feedstock used, especially concerning material and particle size. The LSD technology can be combined with binder jetting to develop the so-called “LSDprint” process for the additive manufacturing of ceramics. The LSDprint technology combines the high-speed printing of binder jetting with the possibility of producing a variety of high-quality ceramics with properties comparable to those achieved by traditional processing. In this presentation, the LSD process will be introduced and several examples of application ranging from silicate to high-performance ceramics will be shown. Recent developments towards the scale-up and industrialization of this process will be discussed, alongside future perspectives for the multi-material additive manufacturing.
The interest to additively manufacture Nickel-based superalloys has substantially grown within the past decade both academically and industrially. More specifically, additive manufacturing processes such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) offer the ability to produce dense parts within a single manufacturing step. In fact, the exceptional freedom in design associated with the layer-based nature of the processes is of particular interest for the complex shapes typically required in turbine applications. In certain cases, the overall part performance can be achieved by tailoring the microstructure and the crystallographic texture to the specific application. However, these advantages must be paid at a price: the large local temperature gradients associated with the rapid melting and solidification produce parts that inherently contain large residual stress in the as-manufactured state. In addition, the presence of pores in the final part may further affect the in-service part failure. As among Nickel-based alloys Inconel 718 exhibits excellent weldability, this alloy has been widely studied in open research in the domain of LPBF. However, significant microsegregation of the heavier alloying elements such as Niobium and Molybdenum accompanied by dislocation entanglements may preclude the application of conventional heat treatment schedules. Therefore, different post processing heat treatments are required for laser powder bed fused Inconel 718 as compared to conventional variants of the same alloy.
In this study, we investigated two different heat treatment routes for LPBF Inconel 718. In a first routine, the samples were stress relieved and subsequently subjected to hot isostatic pressing (HIP) followed by a solution heat treatment and a two-step age (referred to as FHT). In a second routine, the samples were subjected to a single-step direct age post stress relieving heat treatment (referred to DA). We investigated the consequences of such heat treatment schedules on the microstructure, texture, and mechanical behavior. We show that by applying a DA heat treatment the typical columnar microstructure possessing a crystallographic texture is retained, while an equiaxed untextured microstructure prevails in case of an FHT heat treatment. We further evaluate how these heat treatments affect the mechanical behaviour on the macroscopic and microscopic scale.
Powder bed technologies are amongst the most successful Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. Powder bed fusion and binder jetting especially are leading AM technologies for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability.
The application of these techniques to most ceramics has been difficult so far, because of the challenges related to the deposition of homogeneous powder layers when using fine powders.
In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method which enables the use of powder bed AM technologies also for advanced ceramic materials. The layerwise slurry deposition consists of the layer-by-layer deposition of a ceramic slurry by means of a doctor blade, in which the slurry is deposited and dried to achieve a highly packed powder layer. This offers high flexibility in the ceramic feedstock used, especially concerning material and particle size.
The LSD technology can be combined with binder jetting to develop the so-called “LSDprint” process for the additive manufacturing of ceramics.
The LSDprint technology combines the high-speed printing of binder jetting with the possibility of producing a variety of high-quality ceramics with properties comparable to those achieved by traditional processing.
In this presentation, the LSD process will be introduced and several examples of application ranging from silicate to high-performance ceramics will be shown.
Recent developments towards the scale-up and industrialization of this process will be discussed, alongside future perspectives for the multi-material additive manufacturing.
Laser powder-based directed energy deposition (DED-L) is a technology that offers the possibility for 3D material deposition over hundreds of layers and has thus the potential for application in additive manufacturing (AM). However, to achieve broad industrial application as AM technology, more data and knowledge about the fabricated materials regarding the achieved properties and their relationship to the manufacturing process and the resulting microstructure is still needed. In this work, we present data regarding the low-cycle fatigue (LCF) behavior of Ti-6Al-4V. The material was fabricated using an optimized DED-L process. It features a low defect population and excellent tensile properties. To assess its LCF behavior two conventionally manufactured variants of the same alloy featuring different microstructures were additionally tested. The strain-controlled LCF tests were carried out in fully reversed mode with 0.3 % to 1.0 % axial strain amplitude from room temperature up to 400°C. The LCF behavior and failure mechanisms are described. For characterization, optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and micro-computed tomography (µCT) were used. The low defect population allows for a better understanding of the intrinsic material’s properties and enables a fairer comparison against the conventional variants. The fatigue lifetimes of the DED-L material are nearly independent of the test temperature. At elevated test temperatures, they are similar or higher than the lifetimes of the conventional counterparts. At room temperature, they are only surpassed by the lifetimes of one of them. The principal failure mechanism involves multiple crack initiation sites.
Additively Manufactured (AM) parts are still far from being used in safety-relevant applications, mainly due to a lack of understanding of the feedstock-process-propertiesperformance relationship. This work aims at providing a characterization of the fatigue behavior of the additively manufactured AISI 316L austenitic stainless steel and a direct comparison with the fatigue performance of the wrought steel. A set of specimens has been produced by laser powder bed fusion (L-PBF) and a second set of specimens has been machined out of hot-rolled plates. The L-PBF material shows a higher fatigue limit and better finite life performance compared to the wrought material, accompanied by an extensive amount of cyclic softening.
In additive manufacturing the powder bed based processes binder jetting and powder bed fusion are increasingly used also for the production of ceramics. Final part properties depend to a high percentage on the powder bed density. Therefore, the aim is to use the best combination of powder deposition method and powder which leads to a high packing of the particles. The influence of flowability, powder properties and deposition process on the powder bed density is discussed and the different deposition processes including slurry-based ones are reviewed.
It turns out that powder bed density reached by slurry-based layer deposition exceeds conventional powder deposition, however, layer drying and depowdering are extra steps or more time-consuming for the slurry route.
Depending on the material properties needed the most suitable process for the part has to be selected.
The relaxation of macroscopic residual stresses in laser powder bed fused stainless steel 316L
(2021)
The processing of stainless steel 316L using the additive manufacturing process Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) can widen its field of application due to a strong increase in Yield strength, without making major compromises on the ductility nor its outstanding corrosion and oxidation properties. Furthermore, improved designs that either reduce the weight or optimise the function of a part can be obtained using LPBF. These benefits are however counterbalanced by the proneness of LPBF to inducing high Residual Stresses (RS) during manufacturing. The characterisation and monitoring of these RS are of paramount importance for the wider acceptance of the LPBF process. This study focuses on the relaxation of the initial macroscopic RS present in an LPBF 316L as-built prism that undergoes various routes of manufacturing steps to achieve different specimen geometries and stress relieving treatments. The RS are determined using Angle-Dispersive (AD) and Time-of-Flight (TOF) neutron diffraction. The results reveal high tensile RS close to the surfaces and compressive RS near the centre of the as-built parts. The reduction in size and change of geometry heavily impact the stress ranges of the remaining RS, with lower stress ranges in cylindrical shaped compared to rectangular shaped specimens. Also, the application of different stress relieving heat treatments showed that heat-treating temperatures above 800 °C are necessary to obtain a strong relaxation in LPBF 316L.
As an alternative shaping method to the traditionally used processes, additive manufacturing (AM) can produce economical ceramic components in small lot sizes and/or with complex geometries. Powder-based additive manufacturing processes like binder jetting are popular in the field of metal AM. One reason is the increased productivity compared to other AM technologies. For ceramic materials, powder-based AM technologies result in porous ceramic parts, provided they are not infiltrated. CerAMing GmbH unites the advantages of powder-based processes with the production of dense ceramic by means of the Layerwise Slurry Deposition. By using a suspension, a high packing density of the powder bed is achieved which leads to high green body densities. Due to this advantage the approach overcomes the problems of other powder-based AM technologies. Furthermore, a very economical debinding time allows the production of parts with high wall thicknesses.
This presentation shows some experimental results of the characterization of the creep behavior of LPBF 316L, which has been poorly studied and understood to date. The presentation includes results regarding the mechanical properties, the initial microstructural state and its evolution under loading, and the damage mechanism. This work was done within the BAM focus area materials project AGIL. As a benchmark to assess the material properties of the LPBF 316L, a conventionally manufactured variant was also tested.
Damage tolerance counts as one of the most widespread approach to fatigue assessment and surely as one of the most promising in understanding the process-structure-property-performance relationships in additively manufactured metallic materials. Manufacturing defects, surface roughness, microstructural features, short and long crack fatigue propagation, residual stresses and applied loads can be taken into consideration in a fracture mechanics-based fatigue assessment. Many aspects are crucial to the reliable component life prediction. Among those a prominent role is played by an accurate measurement and modelling of the short crack fatigue behavior, and reliable statistical characterization of defects and residual stresses.
This work aims at addressing the issues related to both experimental testing, fatigue and fatigue crack propagation, and fracture mechanics-based modelling of fatigue lives. Examples will be provided on an additively manufactured AISI 316 L.
Diese Untersuchung beschäftigt sich mit der Charakterisierung von Kurzrisswachstum in mittels Laser-Pulverbett-Verschmelzen (LPBF - Laser Powder Bed Fusion) hergestelltem rostfreien austenitischen Stahl. Spezifischer wird die Ermittlung zyklischer R-Kurven untersucht. Diese beschreiben den Aufbau des Widerstands gegen Ermüdungsrisswachstum - d.h. des Schwellenwertes - aufgrund von Rissschließeffekten bei physikalisch kurzen Rissen. Mit Hilfe der zyklischen R-Kurven kann die Fähigkeit eines Bauteils, physikalisch kurze Risse zu arretieren, charakterisiert werden. Wir verfügen damit über eine Schnittstelle zwischen klassischer Ermüdung und Bruchmechanik. Das ist gerade auch für additiv gefertigte (AM – Additive Manufacturing) Materialien von Interesse. Diese weisen prozessintrinsische Defekte auf, die als Initiierungsstellen kurzer Ermüdungsrisse agieren. Im Rahmen der experimentellen Untersuchungen wurden zyklische R-Kurven für konventionellen und LPBF AISI-316L-Stahl ermittelt. Insbesondere wurde der Einfluss verschiedener Wärmebehandlungen (WB1: 450°C, WB2: 800°C und WB3: 900°C) auf das Wachstumsverhalten physikalisch kurzer Risse im LPBF-Material untersucht. Aufgrund hoher Eigenspannungen war die Ermittlung des Kurzrisswachstumsverhaltens bei WB1 nicht möglich. Für WB2 und WB3 ergaben sich sehr unterschiedliche zyklische R-Kurven. Untersuchungen der Eigenspannungen, der Bruchfläche (insbesondere der Rauheit) und der Mikrostruktur sollen die Ursachen für das unterschiedliche Verhalten erklären. Die Ergebnisse werden mit den Verhältnissen in konventionellem Material verglichen.
Fracture mechanics is a key to fatigue assessment in AM metal components. Short fatigue cracks are initiated at defects and pronounced surface roughness intrinsic to AM. The subsequent crack-propagation is strongly influenced by microstructural interactions and the build-up of crack-closure. The aim of the present study is to give an insight into short-crack propagation in AM-metals. Fatigue crack propagation resistance curves were determined experimentally for AISI 316L manufactured by Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF) which was heat treated at three different temperatures. Differences in the build-up of the fatigue-crack propagation threshold in between the L-PBF specimens and compared to wrought material are due to the residual stress states, a pronounced roughness of the crack-faces in the L-PBF specimens and phase transformation in the vicinity of the crack-tip, resulting in increased crack-closure. This, together with crack-branching found along the crack path, enhances the resistance to the propagation of fatigue cracks.
The possibility of creating patient-specific individual implants makes Additive Manufacturing technologies of special interest for the medical sector. For substitution of bone defects, powder based Additive Manufacturing by Binder Jetting is a suitable method to produce complex scaffold-like structures made of bioceramics with easily adapted geometries and controlled porosity. The process inherent residual porosity in the printed part, even though desired as it supports bone ingrowth, also leads to limited mechanical strength. Currently, bioceramic scaffolds made by Binder Jetting feature suitable biocompatible and biodegradable properties, while a sufficient mechanical stability is rather challenging. The purpose of this work is to apply the gas flow assisted powder deposition introduced in 2014 by Zocca et al., to the powder bed during printing of bioceramic tablets and scaffolds using α-TCP powder as feedstock. This enables exploiting the advantages of an increased powder bed density, thereby improving the mechanical properties of the printed parts.
A new approach for fabrication of ceramic components with inner channels is proposed, as a result of the combination of two additive and one subtractive manufacturing processes. In this project, porcelain parts are manufactured by the Layerwise Slurry Deposition (LSD) process, meanwhile end milling and Direct Ink Writing (DIW) are applied to create channels on the surface of the deposited ceramic. Unique to the LSD process is the Formation of a freestanding powder bed with a mechanical strength comparable to conventional slip casted ceramic green bodies. Combining these three processes allows the manufacturing of ceramic objects containing an internal path of ink, which in this case was a graphite-based ink that can be further eliminated by heat treatment to obtain a porcelain object embedded with channels. The results show the capabilities of this method and its potential to fabricate not only parts with inner channels, but also multi-material and multi-functional components (such as integrated electronic circuits).
An overview of the BAM funed Focus Area Materials Project "AGIL" will be presented. AGIL focussed on the stdiy of the ageing characteristics of additively manufactured austenitic stainless steel with a "powder to mechanical failure" Approach. Recent Highlights are presented and a perspective for future studies.
Are we ready for putting a human footprint on Mars? Obviously, it is possible to send technologically challenging missions to our earth neighbors with a high level of complexity, such as enabling autonomous planetary mobility. As humanity contemplates mounting manned missions to Mars, strategies need to be developed for the design and operation of hospitable environments safely working in space for years. Humans require water and air provided by complicated equipment. Its safe operation is a great challenge and implies being prepared for all eventualities. Instead of foreseeing and preparing for all possible scenarios of machine failures and accidents, it appears logic taking advantage of the flexibility of humans and providing essential equipment for the reaction on critical situations. The supply of spare parts for repair and replacement of lost equipment would be one key pillar of such a strategy. Bearing in mind the absolute distance and flight trajectories for manned missions to Mars, supplying spare parts from Earth is impossible. Thus, in space manufacturing remains the only option for a timely supply. With a high flexibility in design and the ability to manufacture ready to use components directly from a computer aided model, additive manufacturing technologies appear extremely attractive. For metal parts manufacturing the Laser Beam Melting process is the most widely used additive manufacturing process in industrial application. However, envisioning the handling of metal powders in the absence of gravitation is one prerequisite for its successful application in space. A gas flow throughout the powder bed has been successfully applied to compensate for missing gravitational forces in micro gravity experiments. The so-called Gas Flow Assisted Powder Deposition is based on a porous building platform acting as a filter for the fixation of metal particles in a gas flow driven by a pressure difference maintained by a vacuum pump.
Are we ready for putting a human footprint on Mars? Obviously, it is possible to send technologically challenging missions to our earth neighbors with a high level of complexity, such as enabling autonomous planetary mobility. As humanity contemplates mounting manned missions to Mars, strategies need to be developed for the design and operation of hospitable environments safely working in space for years. Humans require water and air provided by complicated equipment. Its safe operation is a great challenge and implies being prepared for all eventualities. Instead of foreseeing and preparing for all possible scenarios of machine failures and accidents, it appears logic taking advantage of the flexibility of humans and providing essential equipment for the reaction on critical situations. The supply of spare parts for repair and replacement of lost equipment would be one key pillar of such a strategy. Bearing in mind the absolute distance and flight trajectories for manned missions to Mars, supplying spare parts from Earth is impossible. Thus, in space manufacturing remains the only option for a timely supply. With a high flexibility in design and the ability to manufacture ready to use components directly from a computer aided model, additive manufacturing technologies appear extremely attractive. For metal parts manufacturing the Laser Beam Melting process is the most widely used additive manufacturing process in industrial application. However, envisioning the handling of metal powders in the absence of gravitation is one prerequisite for its successful application in space. A gas flow throughout the powder bed has been successfully applied to compensate for missing gravitational forces in micro gravity experiments. The so-called Gas Flow Assisted Powder Deposition is based on a porous building platform acting as a filter for the fixation of metal particles in a gas flow driven by a pressure difference maintained by a vacuum pump.
Many of the most successful and precise additive manufacturing (AM) technologies are based on the deposition layer-by-layer of a flowable powder. Since the first pioneering work at the end of the 1980th many developments have been introduced, greatly extending the use of different materials, improving the physical properties of the components built and enhancing the accuracy of the process. Still very important issues remain nowadays, hampering a completely autonomous production of parts and even restricting the freedom of design by means of these technologies. One of the major issues is the low density and stability of the parts during the building process, which implies the need of support structures: The powder bed surrounding the part has an essential role, since it should support the structure during building, until it’s ready for removal. Moreover, the microstructure of the powder bed is a template for the microstructure of the part produced. In this context, the use of submicron ceramic powders is still a challenge. Three approaches for the stabilization and densification of powder beds will be presented: The Layerwise Slurry Deposition process LSD, the gas flow assisted powder deposition and the Laser Induced Slipcasting (LIS) of ceramic powder compacts.
Despite of the significant advances in AM process optimization there is still a lack of experimental results and understanding regarding the mechanical behavior and microstructural evolution of AMparts, especially in loading conditions typical for safety-relevant applications e.g. in the aerospace or power engineering. Within the scope of the presented investigations, a characterization of the fatigue behavior of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V in the low cycle fatigue regime was carried out in the range of 0.3 to 1.0 % strain amplitude at room temperature, 250°C and 400°C. The Ti-6Al-4V specimens are machined out of lean cylindrical rods, which were fabricated using powder laser metal deposition (LMD) with an improved build-up strategy. The improved strategy incorporates variable track overlap ratios to achieve a constant growth in the shell and core area. The low-cycle-fatigue behavior is described based on cyclic deformation curves and strain-based fatigue life curves. The lifetimes are fitted based on the Manson-Coffin-Basquin relationship. A characterization of the microstructure and the Lack-of-Fusion (LoF)-defect-structure in the as-built state is performed using optical light microscopy and high-resolution computed tomography (CT) respectively. The failure mechanism under loading is described in terms of LoF-defects-evolution and crack growth mechanism based on an interrupted LCF test with selected test parameters. After failure, scanning electron microscopy, digital and optical light microscopy and CT are used to describe the failure mechanisms both in the longitudinal direction and in the cross section of the specimens. The fatigue lives obtained are comparable with results from previous related studies and are shorter than those of traditionally manufactured (wrought) Ti-6Al-4V. In this study new experimental data and understanding of the mechanical behavior under application-relevant loading conditions (high temperature, cyclic plasticity) is gained. Furthermore, a better understanding of the role of LoFdefects and AM-typical microstructural features on the failure mechanism of LMD Ti-6Al-4V is achieved.
Powder bed -based technologies are amongst the most successful Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. "Selective laser sintering/melting" (SLS/SLM) and "binder jetting 3D printing" (3DP) especially are leading AM technologies for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability.
However, the flowability of the powder used in these processes is essential to achieve defect-free and densely packed powder layers. For standard powder bed AM technologies, this limits the use of many raw materials which are too fine or too cohesive.
This presentation will discuss the possibilities to either optimize the powder raw material to adapt it to the specific AM process, or to develop novel AM technologies which are able to process powders in a wider range of conditions.
In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method which enables the use of very fine ceramic particles.
The layerwise slurry deposition (LSD) has been established in the recent years as a method for the deposition of ceramic powder layers. The LSD consists in the layer-by-layer deposition of a ceramic slurry by means of a doctor blade; each layer is sequentially deposited and dried to achieve a highly packed powder layer.
The combination of binder jetting and LSD was introduced as a novel technology named LSD-print. The LSD-print takes advantage of the speed of binder jetting to print large areas, parallel to the flexibility of the LSD, which allows the deposition of highly packed powder layers with a variety of ceramic materials.
The working principle and history of the LSD technology will be shortly discussed. A theoretical background will be also discussed, highlighting advantages and drawbacks of the LSD compared to the deposition of a dry powder.
The last part of the talk will be dedicated to highlight recent results on the LSD-print of SiSiC of geometrically complex components, in collaboration between BAM and HC Starck Ceramics GmbH. Density, microstructure and mechanical properties of LSD-printed and isostatic pressed samples will be discussed and compared.
Quality Aspects of Additively Manufactured Medical Implants - Defect Detection in Lattice Parts
(2019)
Additive Manufacturing technologies are developing fast to enable a rapid and flexible production of parts. Tailoring products to individual needs is a big advantage of this technology, which makes it of special interest for the medical device industry and the direct manufacturing of final products. Due to the fast development, standards to assure reliability of the AM process and quality of the printed products are often lacking. The EU project Metrology for Additively Manufactured Medical Implants (MetAMMI) is aiming to fill this gap by investigating alternative and cost efficient non-destructive measurement methods.
Despite of the significant advances in additive manufacturing (AM) process optimization there is still a lack of experimental results and understanding regarding the mechanical behavior and its relationship with the microstructural features of AM-parts, especially in loading conditions typical for safety-relevant applications. Within the scope of the presented ongoing investigations, a basic microstructural characterization, tensile tests at room and elevated temperature (400°C) as well as a characterization of the fatigue behavior of additively manufactured Ti-6Al-4V in the low cycle fatigue regime are carried out in the as-built state. After failure, different techniques are used to describe the failure mechanisms of the specimens. The AM-Specimens are provided by the Fraunhofer institute for production systems and design technology and investigated at the BAM following the philosophy of the TF-Project AGIL.
Powder bed -based technologies are amongst the most successful Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. "Selective laser sintering/melting" (SLS/SLM) and "binder jetting 3D printing" (3DP) especially are leading AM technologies for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability. In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method which enables the use of SLS/SLM and 3DP technologies for advanced ceramic materials. LSD consists in the layer-by-layer deposition of a ceramic slurry by means of a doctor blade. Each layer is deposited and dried to achieve a highly packed powder layer, which can be used for SLM or for 3DP. This technique offers high flexibility in the ceramic feedstock used, especially concerning material and particle size, and is capable of producing parts with physical and mechanical properties comparable to traditionally shaped parts. In this presentation, the LSD technique will be introduced and several examples of application to porcelain, SiC and alumina products will be reported.
Powder bed -based technologies are amongst the most successful Additive Manufacturing (AM) techniques. "Selective laser sintering/melting" (SLS/SLM) and "binder jetting 3D printing" (3DP) especially are leading AM technologies for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability.
However, the flowability of the powder used in these processes is essential to achieve defect-free and densely packed powder layers. For standard powder bed AM technologies, this limits the use of many raw materials which are too fine or too cohesive.
This presentation will discuss the possibilities to either optimize the powder raw material to adapt it to the specific AM process, or to develop novel AM technologies which are able to process powders in a wider range of conditions.
In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method which enables the use of very fine ceramic particles. Another technology, the Gas Flow Assisted Powder Deposition, can increase the stability of the powder bed and the packing density, even in extreme conditions such as in absence of gravitational forces.
In powder bed Additive Manufacturing (AM) technologies, a part is produced by depositing and piling up thin powder layers. In each layer, the cross section of the object to build is defined by locally consolidating the powder, by sintering/melting the material (powder bed fusion technologies) or by ink jetting a binder (binder jetting technologies).
These are already leading AM technologies for metals and polymers, thanks to their high productivity and scalability. The application of these techniques to most ceramics has been challenging so far, because of the challenges related to the deposition of homogeneous powder layers when using fine powders.
In this context, the "layerwise slurry deposition" (LSD) has been developed as a layer deposition method which enables the use of SLS/SLM and 3DP technologies for advanced ceramic materials. LSD consists in the layer-by-layer deposition of a ceramic slurry by means of a doctor blade. Each layer is deposited and dried to achieve a highly packed powder layer. The LSD offers high flexibility in the ceramic feedstock used, especially concerning material and particle size, and enables the production of parts with physical and mechanical properties comparable to pressed or slip-casted parts. In this presentation, the LSD technique will be introduced and several examples of application to porcelain, SiC and alumina products will be reported.
Additive Manufacturing (AM) through the Selective Laser Melting (SLM) route offers ample scope for producing geometrically complex parts compared to the conventional subtractive manufacturing strategies. Nevertheless, the residual stresses which develop during the fabrication can limit application of the SLM components by reducing the load bearing capacity and by inducing unwanted distortion, depending on the boundary conditions specified during manufacturing.
The present study aims at characterizing the residual stress states in the SLM parts using different diffraction methods. The material used is the nickel based superalloy Inconel 718. Microstructure as well as the surface and bulk residual stresses were characterized. For the residual stress analysis, X-ray, synchrotron and neutron diffraction methods were used. The measurements were performed at BAM, at the EDDI beamline of -BESSY II synchrotron- and the E3 line -BER II neutron reactor- of the Helmholtz-Zentrum für Materialien und Energie (HZB) Berlin.
The results reveal significant differences in the residual stress states for the different characterization techniques employed, which indicates a dependence of the residual state on the penetration depth in the sample. For the surface residual stresses, longitudinal and transverse stress components from both X-ray and synchrotron agree well and the obtained values were around the yield strength of the material. Furthermore, synchrotron mapping disclosed gradients along the width and length of the sample for the longitudinal and transverse stress components. On the other hand, lower residual stresses were found in the bulk of the material measured using neutron diffraction. The longitudinal component was tensile and decreased towards the boundary of the sample. In contrast, the normal component was nearly constant and compressive in nature. The transversal component was almost negligible. The results indicate that a stress re-distribution takes place during the deposition of the consecutive layers. Further investigations are planned to study the phenomenon in detail.
In powder-based Additive Manufacturing (AM) processes, an object is produced by successively depositing thin layers of a powder material and by inscribing the cross section of the object in each layer. The main methods to inscribe a layer are by binder jetting (also known as powder 3D printing) or by selective laser sintering/melting (SLS/SLM).
Powder-based AM processes have found wide application for several metallic, polymeric and also ceramic materials, due to their advantages in combining flexibility, easy upscaling and (often) good material properties of their products.
The deposition of homogeneous layers is key to the reproducibility of these processes and has a direct influence on the quality of the final parts. Accordingly, powder properties such as particle size distribution, shape, roughness and process related properties such as powder flowability and packing density need to be carefully evaluated.
Due to these requirements, these processes have been so far precluded to find commercial use for certain applications. In the following, two outstanding cases will be presented.
A first example is that powder-based AM processes are widely used for many metallic and polymeric materials, but they find no commercial application for most technical ceramics.
This seemingly contradicting observation is explained by the fact that in powder based AM, a dry flowable powder needs to be used. The processing of technical ceramics in fact typically requires very fine and poorly flowable powder, which makes them not suitable for the standard processes. There have been several approaches to adapt the raw materials to the process (e.g. by granulation), but in order to maintain the superior properties of technical ceramics it seems necessary to follow the opposite approach and adapt the process to the raw materials instead.
This was the motivation for developing the Layerwise Slurry Deposition (LSD), an innovative process for the deposition of powder layers with a high packing density. In the LSD process, a ceramic slurry is deposited to form thin powder layers, rather than using a dry powder. This allows achieving high packing density (55-60%) in the layers after drying. It is also important, that standard ceramic raw materials can be used. When coupled with a printing head or with a laser source, the LSD enables novel AM technologies which are similar to 3D printing or selective laser sintering, but taking advantage of having a highly dense powder bed.
The LSD -3D printing, in particular, offers the potential of producing large (> 100 mm) and high quality ceramic parts, with microstructure and properties similar to traditional processing. Moreover, due to the compact powder bed, no support structures are required for fixation of the part in the printing process.
Figure 1 shows the schematics of the working principle of the LSD-3D print and illustrates some examples of the resolution and features achievable.
The second outstanding case here described is the application of powder-based AM in environments with reduced or zero gravity. The vision is to be able to produce repair parts, tools and other objects during a space mission, such as on the International Space Station (ISS), without the need of delivering such parts from Earth or carrying them during the mission. AM technologies are also envisioned to play an important role even for future missions to bring mankind to colonize other planets, be it on Mars or on the Moon. In this situation, reduced gravity is also experienced (the gravitational acceleration is 0.16 g on the Moon and 0.38 g on Mars).
These environments cause the use of AM powder technologies to be very problematic: the powder layers need to be stabilized in order to avoid dispersion of the particles in the chamber. This is impossible for standard AM powder deposition systems, which rely on gravitation to spread the powder.
Also in this case, an innovative approach has been implemented to face this technological challenge. The application of a gas flow through a powder has a very strong effect on its flowability, by generating a force on each particle, which is following the gas flow field. This principle can be applied in a simple setup such as the one shown in Figure 2.
In this setup, the gas flow causes an average pressure on the powder bed in direction of the arrows, generating a stabilizing effect which acts in the same direction of the gravitational force. This effect can be used in addition to normal gravity on Earth to achieve a better stabilization of 3D printed parts in the powder bed. In this case, even a significant increase of packing density of the powder was measured, compared to the same experimental setup without gas flow. This is due to the fact that the force on each single particle follows the gas flow field, which is guiding the particles to settle between the pores of the powder bed, thus achieving an efficient packing.
The same principle can be applied in absence of gravitation, where the gas flow acts to stabilize the powder layers. It has been shown that ceramic powder could be deposited in layers and laser sintered in µ-gravity conditions during a DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt) campaign of parabolic flights, as shown in Figure 2. A follow-up campaign is dedicated to the deposition of metallic (stainless steel) powder in inert atmosphere and to study the effects of laser melting in µ-gravity.
In conclusion, the description of these two example cases shows how the development of novel technological processes can address some of the limitations of standard powder-based AM, in order to enable the use of new materials, such as technical ceramics, or to tackle the challenges of AM in space.