Uniformity Labs, a company specializing in the creation of engineering materials, has announced the introduction of powdered stainless steel with ultra-low porosity – UniJet SS17-4PH Performance, intended for Desktop Metal Production 3D printers. According to the company, the material offers double the durability of printed stainless steel parts compared to existing materials of this type on the market.
During the powder qualification process on Desktop Metal 3D printers, the physical and mechanical properties of UniJet 17-4PH were thoroughly evaluated. The uniform powder coating results in an average of 20% less shrinkage than other steel materials qualified for use with Desktop Metal systems. These factors are expected to translate into better geometric precision of the part after the sintering process and less damage to the “green” and “brown” parts during post-processing and during the removal of unbonded powder.
The key features of the material are exceptional bulk and compaction densities, resulting in “green” parts with many points of contact between particles, and 19-25% less shrinkage in XYZ compared to other powders in all layer thicknesses. Uniformity Labs says the powder also provides 99-100% of the final part’s density, and parts produced with it have an average three times lower standard deviation of density. This is supposed to translate into three times better absolute geometric tolerance in sintered parts.
Uniformity Labs also emphasizes that the highly flowable powder allows for repeated high-speed layering with 20% less shrinkage at 75µm layer thickness. With a layer thickness of 65µm, the efficiency improvement is over 80%.
Source: www.uniformitylabs.com
Photos: www.uniformitylabs.com (press materials / all rights reserved)