14 DAY TRIAL // 3D printing technology has come a long way in a short time, going from rough, flawed plastic figurines to complex art pieces and full-color printing, and even metal printing. That last one still needs a bit of a push though, Carnegie Mellon feels. Which is to say, researchers at the Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh will spend the next 18 months looking for new metal powders that can be used in 3D printing.
America Makes, the National Additive Manufacturing Institute, has granted the university $1.9 million / €1.39 million for the effort.
Professor Jack Beuth will lead the research team, and the ultimate goal is to make it possible to mass-produce 3 printed metal objects.
"At this time, high-quality results are only guaranteed if powders from the additive manufacturing machine manufacturers are used," Beuth said.
"For those processes to become high volume manufacturing processes, a wider range of powder options is needed."
The team of scientists includes, among others, in addition to Beuth, Fred Higgs, professor of mechanical engineering, and Anthony Rollett, professor of materials science and engineering.
Ola Harrysson of North Carolina State University is participating in the effort as well, having been working to control and understand metal microstructure and mechanical properties of products made by two kinds of additive manufacturing processes.
Speaking of which, they are trying to understand EOS' Laser Sintering and Arcam's Electron Beam Melting processes, the two most successful techniques, so far, of printing metal.
"We are looking to continue our dynamic partnerships with all participants as we seek ways to improve U.S. manufacturing," said CMU's Gary Fedder, director of the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems and associate dean of research for the College of Engineering.
The community of scientists participating in the new research project includes partners from aerospace, medical devices, powder manufacturing and other industries. CMU is the one that purchased the new metals-based additive manufacturing equipment needed for everything.