Metal Sintering

Introduction

Metal sintering is a useful process that can be applied in conjunction with 3D printing of plastic filament. Metal powders embedded in plastic filament can be used in regular 3D printers. It is relatively straightforward to embed 80% of metal powders in plastic filament. Powder Metallurgy Research indicates that with 20 percent viod space, the sintered metal still retains 50 percent of its tensile strength. Thus, sintered stainless steel for example would still have 40 ksi strength with 20% voids. 40 ksi (50% of tensile strength) [[1]] useful for many high-strength applications. Metal 3d printing using standard FDM printers is around the corner as a mainstream technology.

Data

Tensile strength as a function of Sintering void percent shows 50% tensile strength at 20% voids. - [2]

Links

• Metal Selective Layer Sintering - 40W of laser power is required to sinter metal powders. This could be done with a CO2 laser.
• Open Source Metal SLS 3D Printer