M. Salehi,S.X. Zhang, H. Seet, S. Nai, “Binder jet additive manufacturing of magnesium alloys from powder to finished parts”, 11th International Conference on Materials for Advanced Technologies (ICMAT), 2023, Singapore.
Abstract:
Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies for magnesium (Mg) alloys have been advancing faster than before. Still, the technology readiness level for Mg-AM is significantly behind other metals due to Mg's inherent characteristics. Binder jet printing of Mg powder at ambient temperature, followed by sintering as-printed parts at elevated temperatures, has recently emerged as a promising candidate for Mg-AM. Here, we gave a comprehensive insight into how Mg powder is binder jet printed and sintered to make functional parts. Capillary-mediated binderless 3D printing was used to advantageously transform the native oxide film covering each Mg powder to solid interparticle bridges in as-printed green parts, as supported by a variety of advanced characterization techniques. Then, sintering methods were developed to densify as-printed parts while retaining their shape fidelity and primary chemical composition of starting Mg powder. A comprehensive material-property evaluation of sintered Mg-Zn-Zr parts in terms of physical, chemical, mechanical, and electrochemical characterizations were conducted. The obtained results are benchmarked against the literature on laser powder bed fusion and conventional casting of counterpart alloys. Finally, an automated post-machining of as-sintered parts was developed to provide an end-to-end manufacturing solution for Mg alloys. This digital Manufacturing solution was demonsterated for the fabrication of customized porous Mg implants for craniomaxillofacial applications. Overall, this current work enlightens how advancing manufacturing technologies could revolutionize the future of Mg alloys.
License type:
Publisher Copyright
Funding Info:
This research / project is supported by the A*STAR - Structural and Metal Alloys Programme (SMAP) - Work Package II
Grant Reference no. : A18B1b0061