EQUIPMENT AND MATERIALS FOR METAL 3D PRINTERS HAVE REPORTEDLY REACHED $1 BILLION IN THE WORLD. ALTHOUGH THE OUTPUT VALUE IS ONLY ABOUT 10% COMPARED WITH PLASTIC 3D PRINTING, IT IS EXPECTED THAT METAL 3D PRINTING WILL REACH A SCALE OF 10 BILLION BY THE END OF 2022.

So, how is titanium alloy 3D printing technology different in the field of metal 3D printing? What is the current state of its research? What about the application prospects in aerospace and other fields?

RESEARCH STATUS OF TITANIUM ALLOY 3D PRINTING TECHNOLOGY

In recent years, with the rapid development of titanium alloy direct manufacturing technology such as laser selection melting (SLM) manufacturing and electron beam selection melting (EBSM) manufacturing, the titanium alloy 3D printing manufacturing technology of customized functional parts has become more and more mature, and the molding, process and equipment of customized functional parts of titanium alloy materials have become hot spots.

Selective laser melting SLM refers to the protection of argon or nitrogen with a laser beam irradiation titanium alloy powder, titanium alloy powder after absorbing laser energy quickly melted and solidified, in order to melt the combination, dense structure, high-precision titanium alloy functional parts, is currently research and production at home and abroad *** commonly used titanium alloy 3D printing method.

Application prospects of titanium alloy 3D printing technology in aerospace and other fields

In the field of titanium alloy 3D printing technology applications, titanium alloy 3D printing has developed rapidly in the aerospace and medical fields in recent years, and the application of many scenarios is mainly concentrated in high-precision aerospace parts, dental and human bone networks. The materials are mainly titanium alloys, stainless steels and other biological materials with good compatibility with human tissues. Recently, the team of thoracic surgery experts of Union Hospital successfully implanted a "privately customized" 3D printed titanium alloy chest ribs, and the injured wore a pair of titanium alloy "armor" to reshape the new chest.

Direct production of titanium alloy parts is in the field of rapid development in the field of 3D printing, the use of metal powder SLM equipment direct printing and manufacturing of titanium alloy parts to solve the aerospace and other fields of small batches, customized cross-air imagination of the creative problem, because it can process the traditional method is difficult to process, or even can not process the more complex parts, so in the direct printing production parts have unparalleled superiority.

Because the parts requirements in aerospace, aviation, medical and other fields are "high precision", "high quality" and "ultra-precision" application characteristics, it also puts forward higher requirements for the quality of titanium alloy 3D printing powder. The quality of titanium alloy additive manufacturing parts is closely related to the characteristics of metal powders, including the particle size, spherical degree, fluidity, loose density of the powder, etc.

Based on the in-depth market observation of Datang Shengshi and the long-term practice of titanium alloy 3D printing manufacturing, Datang Shengshi uses ultra-fine TC4 titanium alloy powder for 3D printing molding according to the special needs of users for long-term feedback, and the products have been successfully applied to additive manufacturing fields such as aerospace.

The excellent comprehensive mechanical properties of titanium alloy 3D printing finished products can meet the performance needs of the aero engine, and its high specific strength, light weight and other characteristics provide support for blade weight reduction; the finished product has high thermal stability and oxidation resistance, which can extend the blade life and inspection interval; at the same time, the parts are hollowed out structure, the design space is large, and more diverse shapes can be realized to meet the needs of a variety of scenarios.

Titanium alloy 3D printing is currently widely used in aerospace, medical field a product molding method. After the product is formed by selective laser melting (SLM) additive manufacturing equipment, the microscopic structure of the resulting parts is uniformly dense and has the characteristics of rapid solidification. The tensile strength, yield strength and elongation of the printed parts are about 6 to 7%, 6 to 10%, and 55-60% higher than the forging indicators, respectively. The internal dimensional accuracy of the printed parts is high, and the high specific strength and medium high temperature mechanical properties make the parts have good bearing capacity and stress capacity, which meets the requirements of safety-critical applications such as aerospace.

Therefore, the application prospects of titanium alloy 3D printing technology in aerospace and other fields will be extremely bright!