Currently, manufacturers are looking to increase stainless steel’s potential by combining it with 3D printing. This method of printing creates three-dimensional solid materials using a digital model.
3D printing doesn’t remove material by cutting and drilling, but rather works by additive processes in which successive layers of the desired material are deposited to create an object. Stainless steel offers a low cost form of metal printing, which is suited to large objects because of its strength. It can be used alongside titanium and aluminum as a metal 3D printing material for complex designs not currently possible using traditional manufacturing methods.
The main method used for stainless steel 3D printing requires binding the layers of stainless steel powder together with a bonding agent. During the process, a stainless steel powder layer is laid in a build box and a print head is allowed to move across the box to spray binder solution. The layer deposited with binding agents is then dried using a heating lamp. After this, a new powder layer is spread and the process is repeated. The object is created layer by layer until it is complete and then dried in an oven to cure the binder fully.
Just some of the benefits of stainless steel 3D printing technology are durability, lightweight, inexpensive, short lead times and resistant to heat at temperatures up to 831 Celsius. The applications are seemingly endless from jewelry to metal implants to automotive parts to industrial components.