AluWireLMP | Liquid metal printing of aluminum alloys

Technology and process flow:

The liquid metal printing process belongs to the group of metal-based additive manufacturing processes (Metal Material Jetting), in which components are built up layer by layer through a repetitive application of the material. Unlike most welding-based processes, liquid metal printing does not require a beam source to fuse the material, as the material is molten and applied drop by drop. Components are built by applying the material in the build direction in conjunction with a high-precision moving cross table (Figure IGCV-ProcessSchemeDesLiquidMetalPrinting, Figure IGCV-PrintingProcessOfAnAluminumHolderAusAlSi12). 

Advantages of Liquid Metal Printing: 

The process enables a near-net-shape production with droplet diameters between 450 µm and 750 µm and deposition rates up to 400 cm³/h. The main advantages of the process can be summarized as follows:

· Short production times and high built rates,

· near-net-shape production on demand,

· high material density (up to 99.5%),

· low thermal stresses during production and 

· lower raw material costs (wire-based) than powder- and laser-based processes. 

Thus, the processing of aluminum alloys in additive manufacturing can unleash significant innovation potential for companies from different industries (e.g., aerospace, mobility, energy sector) (Figure IGCV-Aluminum holderAusAlSi12). 

AluWireLMP: 

In the AluWireLMP project, which is funded by the Bavarian State Ministry of Economic Development and Energy, Fraunhofer IGCV and its project partners GROB-Werke GmbH & Co. KG (Mindelheim), and Gutmann Aluminium Draht GmbH (Weißenburg) concentrate on the establishment and qualification of new, industrially relevant aluminum alloys. The focus is on the systematic optimization of process parameters for magnesium-containing aluminum alloys and the determination and evaluation of component properties such as elongation at break, yield and tensile strength, as well as density and dimensional stability.

Website:

https://www.igcv.fraunhofer.de/de/forschung/referenzprojekte/AluWireLMP_drahtbasierte_AM_mittels_LMP.html

Contact:

M.Sc. Julia Förster, julia.foerster@igcv.fraunhofer.de, +49 821 90 678 312.

Dr.-Ing. Georg Schlick, georg.schlick@igcv.fraunhofer.de, +49 821 90678-179