3D printing is an emerging technology in the manufacturing sector, referred to as a “manufacturing technology with industrial revolution significance.” In recent years, with advancements in industrial technology, 3D printing has developed rapidly and gained widespread media attention, with various 3D printing technologies being reported. Faced with numerous 3D printing technologies, are you feeling a bit overwhelmed? No worries, below I have organized the top ten 3D printing technologies, vividly presenting their principles through GIFs, bringing the impressive 3D printing technology down to earth!
Metal 3D printing technology can be directly used for the rapid prototyping of metal parts, with broad industrial application prospects. It is a key area of development for 3D printing technology both domestically and internationally. In this issue, following the polymer principles of 3D printing, we will introduce the metal section, sharing the five major metal 3D printing principles: NPJ, SLM, SLS, LMD, and EBM.
NPJ (Nano Particle Jetting)
NPJ technology is the latest metal 3D printing technology developed by the Israeli company Xjet. Compared to conventional laser 3D printing, it uses nano liquid metal and deposits it in a jetting manner, achieving a printing speed 5 times faster than ordinary laser printing, with excellent precision and surface roughness.
Below is the working process of Xjet equipment:
Metal particles are refined
Metal particles are distributed in droplets
The droplet jetting forming process
The liquid phase discharge process
The sintered part
2
SLM (Selective Laser Melting)
SLM, or Selective Laser Melting, is currently the most common technology in metal 3D printing. It uses finely focused laser spots to quickly melt pre-set metal powder, directly obtaining any shape and parts with complete metallurgical bonding, achieving a density of over 99%.
The laser scanning system is one of the key technologies of SLM. Below is the working diagram of the scanning system from SLM Solution:
Laser emission
Laser transmission
Scanning mirror
Laser scanning melting
The melting process of metal powder
In the metal 3D printing process, due to the complexity of the parts, support materials are usually required during printing. After the parts are completed, the supports need to be removed, and the surface of the parts needs to be processed.
Removing the parts
Removing the supports
Polishing post-processing
3
SLS (Selective Laser Sintering)
SLS, or Selective Laser Sintering, is similar to SLM technology, with the main difference being the laser power, and it is usually used for 3D printing of polymer materials.
Below is the process for preparing plastic parts using SLS:
Model layering and slicing
Laser sintering process
Removal of the parts
Post-processing
SLS can also be used to manufacture metal or ceramic parts, but the resulting parts have low density and require subsequent densification treatment before use.
SLS manufacturing of metal parts
4
LMD (Laser Metal Deposition)
LMD, or Laser Metal Deposition, has various names, as different research institutions study and name it independently. Common names include: LENS, DMD, DLF, LRF, etc. The main difference from SLM is that the powder is concentrated at the work surface through a nozzle, converging with the laser at one point, and the powder melts and cools to obtain a stacked deposited entity.
Below is the working process of LENS technology:
Coaxial powder feeding
Building process
5
EBM (Electron Beam Melting)
EBM, or Electron Beam Melting, has a process similar to SLM, with the difference being that the energy source used is an electron beam. The energy output of the electron beam in EBM is typically an order of magnitude larger than the laser output power in SLM, and the scanning speed is also much higher than SLM. Therefore, during the building process of EBM, the entire build platform needs to be preheated to prevent excessive temperature during shaping, which could lead to significant residual stress.
Below is the working process of EBM:
Overall preheating
Shaping process
Changes in powder during melting
Source: New Materials Online
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