Rapid casting technology based on selective laser sintering

Selective laser sintering(SLS),as a kind of additive manufacturing technology,which uses a laser beam to scan and heat powder material layer by layer to form parts(models),is widely used in the field of casting,mainly for preparing casting coated sand cores,investment casting patterns,etc.The SLS technique facilitates rapid casting and shortens the casting production periods by eliminating mold preparation.In this study,we reached conclusions for the basic principles and characteristics of SLS methods,and focused on the research status,key technology and development trend of SLS in the fields of forming coated sand-casting molds and investment casting patterns.

Effect of La_2O_3 on microstructure and high-temperature wear property of hot-press sintering FeAl intermetallic compound

FeAl intermetallic compound with different contents of rare earth oxide La2O3 addition was prepared by hot pressing the mechanically alloyed powders.Effect of La2O3 on microstructure and high-temperature wear property of the sintered FeAl samples was investigated in this paper.The results showed that 1 wt.% La2O3 addition could refine the microstructure and increase the density of the FeAl intermetallic compound,and correspondingly improved the high-temperature wear resistance.SEM and EDS analyses of the wo...

Rapid Sintering of Alumina in Low Pressure RF Plasma

Three kinds of high-purity A12O3 powders, whose average paticle size is 0. l, 0.3 and 3.0 mp respectively, were used as thestarting power, and their compacts were fired in the radio-frequency plasma generated at a pressure of 80 Pa using N, as the working gas.Experimental results show that the 0. 1 and 0.3 mp powder compacts can be sintered to nearly the theoretical density within 60 s and thissintering is almost finished in the heating period. It is concluded that the mechanism of liquid sintering, the electric charge effect of Al2O3powder, and the effect of tempetrature gradient in the compacts can affect simultaneously on the rapid densification of the compacts inthe plasma sintering.

Reactive Hot-press Sintering of Al-B_4C Composites at Relative Low Temperature

A new process of reactive hot-press sintering with boron carbide(B4C) and aluminum powders was proposed to overcome difficulties in the sintering of dense B4C ceramic materials.The B4C powder with different content of pure metallic aluminum particle were milled,hot-pressed and sintered at 1600 ℃ for 1 hour.The mechanism of sintering at relative low temperature was analyzed.The phase constitution of the composites was determined.Effects of Al content on the hardness and fracture toughness of the composites were discussed.The results show that thermite reaction procedure in B2O3+Al was the mechanism of sintering at relative low temperature,B4C,Al2O3 and metallic aluminum are the major constituents of the composites.The microhardness of the composites decreases with the increasing of Al content,but the fracture toughness increase obviously.The composite with 5wt% Al content has the best microhardness and fracture toughness in all the composites.

Effect of spark plasma sintering temperature on microstructure and mechanical properties of melt-spun TiAl alloys

A TiAl alloy from pulverized rapidly solidified ribbons with the composition of Ti-46Al-2Cr-4Nb-0.3Y（mole fraction,%） was processed by spark plasma sintering（SPS）.The effects of sintering temperature on the microstructure and mechanical properties were studied.The results show that the microstructure and phase constitution vary with sintering temperature.Sintering the milled powders at 1200 ℃ produces fully dense compact.Higher sintering temperature does not improve the densification evidently.The dominant phases are γ and α2 in the bulk alloys sintered at 1200 ℃.With higher sintering temperature,the fraction of α2 phase decreases and the microstructure changes from equiaxed near γ grain to near lamellar structure,together with a slight coarsening.The bulk alloy sintered at 1260 ℃ with refined and homogeneous near lamellar structure reveals the best overall mechanical properties.The compressional fracture stress and compression ratio are 2984 MPa and 41.5%,respectively,at room temperature.The tensile fracture stress and ductility are 527.5 MPa and 5.9%,respectively,at 800 ℃.

Distinct Electrical and Mechanical Responses of a Cu-10Fe Composite Prepared by Hot-Pressed Sintering and Post Treatment

A Cu-10wt%Fe composite was prepared through hot-pressed sintering,and the material was subsequently solution treated.The hot-pressed sintered and solution treated materials were rolled and aged.The precipitation behavior and performance changes were systematically studied by using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy.In contrast to the hot-pressed sintered specimen,the solution treatment significantly affects the thermal stability and properties of the Cu-10wt%Fe composite.The Cu-10wt%Fe composite was prepared after solid solution,cold rolling and aging at 773 K for 1 h,and it obtained excellent tensile strength of 494 MPa,uniform elongation of 16.3%,electrical conductivity of 51.1%IACS and softening temperature of 838 K.Mechanisms for the distinct difference in thermal stability and properties between hot-pressed sintered and solution treated specimens were analyzed.These findings provide a theoretical basis for designing high-performance Cu-based in-situ composites by post treatment.

Preparation of Fe-As alloys by mechanical alloying and vacuum hot-pressed sintering:microstructure evolution,mechanical properties,and mechanisms

Arsenic materials have attracted great attention due to their unique properties.However,research concerning iron-arsenic(Fe-As) alloys is very scarce due to the volatility of As at low temperature and the high melting point of Fe.Herein,a new Fe-As alloy was obtained by mechanical alloying(MA) followed by vacuum hot-pressed sintering(VHPS).Moreover,a systematic study was carried out on the microstructural evolution,phase composition,leaching toxicity of As,and physical and mechanical properties of Fe-As alloys with varying weight fractions of As(20%,25%,30%,35%,45%,55%,65%,and 75%).The results showed that pre-alloyed metallic powders(PAMPs) have a fine grain size and specific supersaturated solid solution after MA,which could effectively improve the mechanical properties of Fe-As alloys by VHPS.A high density(> 7.350 g·cm^(-3)),low toxicity,and excellent mechanical properties could be obtained for FeAs alloys sintered via VHPS by adding an appropriate amount of As,which is more valuable than commercial Fe-As products.The Fe-25% As alloy with low toxicity and a relatively high density(7.635 g·cm^(-3)) provides an ultra-high compressive strength(1989.19 MPa),while the Fe-65% As alloy owns the maximum Vickers hardness(HVo.5 899.41).After leaching by the toxicity characteristic leaching procedure(TCLP),these alloys could still maintain good mechanical performance,and the strengthening mechanisms of Fe-As alloys before and after leaching were clarified.Changes in the grain size,micro structure,and phase distribution induced significant differences in the compressive strength and hardness.

SOFTWARE SYSTEM FOR SELECTIVE LASER SINTERING

The advent of rapid prototyping & manufacturing techniques represents a major breakthrough in production engineering. This paper is concerned with the software system aspects of the selective laser sintering (SLS),i.e.the issues that deal with an external geometric CAD model to automatically control the physical layering fabrication process as directly as possible ,regardless of the source of the model. The general issues are described and some key methods are given in this paper.

Investigating on casting mold (or core) making with coated sand by the selected laser sintering

Using a special coated sand as the material of the selected laser sintering (SLS), the authors test and investigate the strength change of the test samples in terms of different sintering parameters (scanning speed, laser power, sintering thickness, and so on). The characteristics of coated sand hardening by laser beam are analyzed. The sintered mold (or core) for given casting is poured with molten metal.

Accuracy analysis of the part made by selected laser sintering

The effects of different factors, including the precision of selected laser sintering (SLS) equipment, sintering temperature, sintered thickness of individual layer and laser scanning route, on the SLS part accuracy have been analyzed and studied. Some measures are suggested in order to improve the part accuracy made by SLS.

High-pressure Sintering of Boron Carbide-Titanium Diboride Composites and Its Densification Mechanism

A high-pressure hot-pressing process was applied to densify a commercial boron carbide-titanium diboride (B4C-TiB2) powder mixture.Nearly fully dense (98.6%) materials were obtained at 1700℃ under a pressure of 100MPa.Compared to the sintering temperature required to achieve similar results when a pressure of only 30MPa was applied,the sintering temperature was found to decrease by about 200℃ under pressure of 100 MPa.Analysis of the thermodynamics and microstructure showed that the plastic deformation of the B4C grains induced by high pressure dominated the densification mechanism when high pressure was applied.Furthermore,higher pressure resulted in remarkably improved mechanical properties of the composites,which could be traced back to the generation of stacking faults in the B4C grains and aggregation of TiB2.

A method to fabricate small features on scaffolds for tissue engineering via selective laser sintering

Purpose: Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a rapid pro- totyping technique applied to produce tissue-engineer- ing scaffolds from powder materials. The standard scanning technique, however, often produces struts of extensive thickness, which means fabrication of high- ly porous scaffolds with small overall dimensions is quite difficult. Nevertheless, this study aims to overcome this shortfall. Design/methodology/approach: To this end, three scanning methods were evaluated in terms of minimum feature size and freedom of design, using a test polyamide (PA) material. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was then employed to create highly porous 3D scaffolds using the preferred scanning me- thod to produce thin struts. Findings: While in normal scanning mode some features were well above the laser spot diameter, strut thicknesses below the laser spot diameter were achieved when using the “outline scan” function for PA material. Those achieved for PCL were slightly higher and in the 500-800 ?m range, with an average pore size of 400 μm. Investigations on the properties of the scaffolds revealed an effective compression modulus of the PCL scaffold of 6.5 MPa. Furthermore, there was no change in physical or che- mical properties when the scaffolds were stored in a physiological environment for 7 weeks. Originality/ value: Though SLS is considered as a fabrication te- chnique for tissue engineering scaffolds, actually pro- duced scaffolds did not comply with porosity requirements and limitations of the SLS process in produ- cing features at the size of the laser beam spot have not been discussed. The present paper shows the capabilities of the SLS process based on two materials and presents a method to minimize feature size in scaffolds.

A Comparison between Direct and Indirect Laser Sintering of Metals

Layer manufacture technologies are gaining increasing attention in the manufacturing for the production of polymer mould tooling. Layer manufacture techniques can be used in this potential manufacturing area to produce tooling either indirectly or directly, and powder metal based layer manufacture systems are considered as an effective way of producing rapid tooling. Mechanical properties and accuracy are critical for tooling. This paper reports the results of an experimental study examining the potential of layer manufacturing processes to deliver production tooling for polymer manufacture. A comparison between indirectly selective laser sintering and directly selective laser sintering to provide the tooling was reported. Three main areas were addressed during the study： mechanical strength, accuracy, and build rate. Overviews of the results from the studies were presented.

Synthesis of Polymer Nanocomposites for Selective Laser Sintering （SLS）

This paper presents initial development of polymer application. PNC materials containing a polyamide （PA） and nano to improve the mechanical properties. Commercial polyamide 6 nanocomposites （PNC） material for rapid manufacturing （RM） particles （5 wt%） were produced by solution blending with the aim （PA6） was dissolved in formic acid （HCO2H） together with two different types of nano particle materials： yttrium stabilised zirconia （YSZ） and Hectorite clay （Benton 166） and spray-dried to create powder, creating powder with particle sizes in the range of 10-40 μm. The materials were processed on a CO2 selective laser sintering （SLS） experimental machine. Mechanical properties of the PNCs were evaluated and the results were compared with the unfilled base polymer. Good dispersion of additives was achieved by solution blending, however the PA6 was degraded during the material preparation and spray drying process which resulted in the formation of porous structure and low strength. However the addition of 5 （wt%） nano particles in the PA6 has shown to increase strength by an average of 50-60%. Further work on powder preparation is required in order to fully realize these performance benefits.

放电等离子烧结Bi、Ce掺杂钇铁石榴石陶瓷的微观结构与磁性能

钇铁石榴石(Y_(3)Fe_(5)O_(12),YIG)是一种立方晶体结构的软磁铁氧体材料。YIG具有法拉第效应、低的铁磁共振线宽,在微波磁光领域具有广阔的应用前景。采用球磨法,通过预烧成功制备Y_(2.6-x)Bi_(0.4)Ce_(x)Fe_(5)O_(12)(x=0.1,0.2)粉末,再利用放电等离子烧结(SPS)将其在较低温度下制备成陶瓷。采用X射线衍射仪对陶瓷表面和内层进行了物相分析,采用扫描电子显微镜对粉体和陶瓷形貌进行观察,采用振动样品磁强计对样品进行了静态磁性能测试。实验结果表明,由于Bi元素的掺入,预烧温度降低到1050℃。利用放电等离子烧结方法,在1050℃、60 MPa、保温4 min条件下制备出孔洞少、表观密度为5.3585 g/cm^(3)和5.4469 g/cm^(3)的Bi,Ce-YIG陶瓷,实现了Bi,Ce-YIG陶瓷的低温快速烧结。Ce的掺入提高了Y_(2.6-x)Bi_(0.4)Ce_(x)Fe_(5)O_(12)(x=0.1,0.2)粉末陶瓷的饱和磁化强度(分别为23.01 emu/g、25.96 emu/g),有利于磁光器件的小型化。Bi,Ce-YIG陶瓷的铁磁共振线宽最低为140.5 Oe,有利于器件在微波应用中的低损耗。

Mechanical Properties and Thermal Shock Resistance of SrAl_(2)Si_(2)O_(8) Reinforced BN Ceramic Composites

Hexagonal boron nitride(h-BN)ceramics have become exceptional materials for heat-resistant components in hypersonic vehicles,owing to their superior thermal stability and excellent dielectric properties.However,their densification during sintering still poses challenges for researchers,and their mechanical properties are rather unsatisfactory.In this study,SrAl_(2)Si_(2)O_(8)(SAS),with low melting point and high strength,was introduced into the h-BN ceramics to facilitate the sintering and reinforce the strength and toughness.Then,BN-SAS ceramic composites were fabricated via hot press sintering using h-BN,SrCO_(3),Al_(2)O_(3),and SiO_(2) as raw materials,and effects of sintering pressure on their microstructure,mechanical property,and thermal property were investigated.The thermal shock resistance of BN-SAS ceramic composites was evaluated.Results show that phases of as-preparedBN-SAS ceramic composites are h-BN and h-SrAl_(2)Si_(2)O_(8).With the increase of sintering pressure,the composites’densities increase,and the mechanical properties shew a rising trend followed by a slight decline.At a sintering pressure of 20 MPa,their bending strength and fracture toughness are(138±4)MPa and(1.84±0.05)MPa·m^(1/2),respectively.Composites sintered at 10 MPa exhibit a low coefficient of thermal expansion,with an average of 2.96×10^(-6) K^(-1) in the temperature range from 200 to 1200℃.The BN-SAS ceramic composites prepared at 20 MPa display higher thermal conductivity from 12.42 to 28.42 W·m^(-1)·K^(-1) within the temperature range from room temperature to 1000℃.Notably,BN-SAS composites exhibit remarkable thermal shock resistance,with residual bending strength peaking and subsequently declining sharply under a thermal shock temperature difference ranging from 600 to 1400℃.The maximum residual bending strength is recorded at a temperature difference of 800℃,with a residual strength retention rate of 101%.As the thermal shock temperature difference increase,the degree of oxidation on the ceramic surface and cracks due to thermal stress are also increased gradually.

铸造/烧结钴铬镍合金组织演变规律的对比研究

采用亚快速凝固和真空烧结两种工艺方法制备了钴铬镍合金,详细研究了工艺方法及Cr,Ni含量对合金组织演变规律的影响。结果表明,亚快速凝固工艺所获得的钴铬镍合金组织组成不受成分变化的影响,凝固组织为γ-fcc+ε-hcp两相组织的胞状枝晶,枝晶干为γ-fcc相,枝晶间为ε-hcp相,二次枝晶间距随结晶速率增大而减小,主要溶质元素Cr,Ni在两相间产生偏析,Cr元素富集在枝晶间,Ni元素在枝晶干富集。真空烧结工艺所制备钴铬镍合金组织构成由成分组成决定,低镍含量合金烧结体为单相ε-hcp组织,晶粒随烧结温度的升高呈现急剧粗化特征;高镍含量合金烧结体为γ-fcc+ε-hcp双相组织,晶粒细小且γ-fcc相呈现明显的孪晶和层错结构。烧结合金较铸造合金呈现明显的塑性增长,位错是烧结低镍ε-hcp单相合金性能提升的主要因素,孪晶和层错则是高镍γ-fcc+ε-hcp两相合金组织性能提升的主要因素。

3D打印技术和真空注型工艺在一体式软硬双材质零件制造上的应用

介绍了选择性激光烧结技术和真空注型工艺制造的过程,比较两种工艺的优势和不足,通过在车身加油口盖底座快速制造中的应用实例表明,在汽车研发阶段的样件制造中,选择性激光烧结技术和真空注型工艺相结合,可实现低成本,高效的小批量一体式软硬双材质零件制造。

Repetitious-Hot-Pressing Technique in Hot-Pressing Process

A new pressing method was proposed for hot-pressing process. Experimental results indicated that the porosity in Al2O3/TiC/ Ni/Mo (hereafter called AI2O3/TiC composite) composite compacts decreases by 6% after adopting this new technique, compared to traditional hot-pressing technique under the same sintering temperature. The flexural strength and Vicker hardness increase from 883 MPa to 980 MPa and from 16 GPa to 21.1 GPa, respectively. A theoretical model was given to analyze the densification mechanism of the composite in the process of repetitious-hot-pressing.

Rapid precision casting for complex thin-walled aluminum alloy parts

Based on Vacuum Differential Pressure Casting (VDPC) precision forming technology and the Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) Rapid Prototyping (RP) technology, a rapid manufacturing method called Rapid Precision Casting (RPC) process from computer three-dimensional solid models to metallic parts was investigated. The experimental results showed that the main advantage of RPC was not only its ability to cast higher internal quality and more accurate complex thin-walled aluminum alloy parts, but also the greatly-reduced lead time cycle from Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) plastic prototyping to metallic parts. The key forming technology of RPC for complex thin-walled metallic parts has been developed for new casting production and Rapid Tooling (RT), and it is possible to rapidly manufacture high-quality and accurate metallic parts by means of RP in foundry industry.