Metal 3D Printing Solutions

⚡ 3D-Printed Metals & Ceramics A team at EPFL shows how to 3D-print “blank” hydrogels and, only after printing, load them with metals to turn them into dense metals/ceramics—while slashing shrinkage and warping. With the metal density of >84%, linear shrinkage was as low as ~20% for oxides. That means more precise parts, stronger lattices, and real components like gears and stents ready from the print. 🤓 Geek Mode Print PEGDA hydrogel lattices via DLP (feature sizes down to ~30–100 μm). Post-print, infuse with concentrated metal-salt solutions (e.g., Fe, Cu, Ag); trigger in-situ nanoparticle formation—ammonia coprecipitation for iron oxides or NaBH₄ reductions for Ag/Cu—then repeat to ratchet up loading (up to ~80 wt% nanoparticles in ~10 cycles). Carefully slow-dry, debind in N₂, and sinter/reduce to the target ceramic or metal. The approach preserves optical clarity during printing (no slurry scattering), cuts mass loss vs. prior salt-based routes, and delivers dense Fe, Cu, Ag lattices with low warpage; μCT shows tight CAD mismatch concentrated at edges with core errors near a few tens of microns. See schematic and results (Figures 1–3), fidelity and mechanics (Figures 4, S21), and scalability to cm-scale lattices, stents, gears, and ~30 μm-wall silver gyroids (Figure 5). 💼 Opportunities for VCs 🧲 Hard magnets: Architected strontium hexaferrite (SrFe₁₂O₁₉) gyroids exhibit hard-magnetic without rare-earth metals. 🏥 Medtech: Low-warp metal stents and thin-wall features expand endovascular device concepts and bio-scaffolding. ⚙️ Precision micromechanics: Dense micro-gears, heat-exchange lattices, and RF/EM components are all printable with this new approach. 🌍 Humanity-level impact Making high-fidelity metals and ceramics with commodity printers lowers the cost and raises the reach of advanced devices—from resilient medical hardware to efficient energy systems. It also accelerates materials discovery: architecture-property studies move from lab art to deployable parts. 📄 Original study: https://lnkd.in/g7cM2BN7 #DeepTech #AdditiveManufacturing #3DPrinting #Materials #Metamaterials #VentureCapital

Could the next evolution of laser powder bed fusion involve... eliminating the powder bed? Loose metal powder can be a major source of variance in LPBF. The material itself might be too coarse or too fine, or not the right blend. The recoater might not achieve an even spread. The laser can kick up loose particles and send them flying elsewhere inside the build. One possible solution: Encapsulate the metal powder inside of a polymer sheet first. Researchers at Trinity College Dublin developed a method for producing these sheets, up to 30 meters or longer, in a variety of thicknesses and alloys. Now, they're commercializing the idea through Addicoat. Metal Additive using Polymer Sheets (MAPS for short) has the potential to remove or greatly reduce material handling challenges associated with LBPF 3D printing, plus offer benefits for coating and producing multimaterial parts as well. I met with Rocco Lupoi during Formnext 2025 (and got my hands on some material samples) to learn more. We've got the details on Additive Manufacturing Media today: https://lnkd.in/e8H7UQHa

⚙️ AFTER 10 YEARS – YOUR SPARE PART SIMPLY DOESN’T EXIST ANYMORE. 🔥 “We don’t need metal 3D printing. Milling and turning are enough.” That argument sounds rational. Until you need a replacement part. I’ve experienced it myself: After just a few years, certain components were no longer available from the manufacturer. No stock. No reproduction. No support. If your machine is still running but the spare part no longer exists — the problem is not technical capability. It’s supply chain dependency. And this is where metal additive manufacturing changes the equation. Not as a hype tool. Not as a one-to-one replacement for CNC. But as a strategic complement. Scanning and printing spare parts locally means: • extended product lifetime • reduced transport emissions • independence from OEM bottlenecks • digital inventory instead of physical stock I have many friends in the 3D printing space. The initial euphoria is fading. Reality has kicked in. Good. Because now the real engineering discussion begins. Additive manufacturing is not a cheaper milling machine. It is a different manufacturing logic. More design freedom. Integrated geometries. Topology optimization. Internal channels impossible to machine conventionally. But — and this is important — conventional and additive processes both have their place. High volume, low complexity? CNC dominates. Low volume, high complexity, high customization? Additive wins. The mistake is comparing them one-to-one. The real question is calculated per case: Geometry complexity. Required volume. Lifecycle cost. Logistics impact. So here’s the uncomfortable thought: Are we rejecting metal 3D printing because it doesn’t fit our existing production mindset — or because we truly calculated its potential? Best regards Ulrich – The German Engineer #AdditiveManufacturing #IndustrialEngineering #SupplyChain More Facts, More Automation, More Robotics, Less Show

Supportless conformal 3D printing, without the scaffolding. Researchers at NUS show a method that prints complex metal structures in free space using low-melting Feld metal guided by surface tension. No support material, no post-processing removal. The geometry is formed directly in one pass. Most metal printing workflows still depend on heavy support strategies that limit shape, waste material, and slow iteration. Here, the physics of the material itself is used as the shaping mechanism. What it enables in practice. • Free-form conductive paths that are hard or impossible to machine • Dense, complex geometries without planning support structures • One-step fabrication of metal features embedded into other assemblies Still early, but this feels like one of those techniques that quietly changes how designers think about what is printable. Source: NUS Singapore —- Weekly robotics and AI insights. Subscribe free: scalingdeep.tech

Metal additive manufacturing with powder and wire feedstocks Our recent review article in the Virtual and Physical Prototyping (https://lnkd.in/gg42KXGJ ) journal is focused on metal additive manufacturing with powder and wire feedstocks. Metal additive manufacturing (AM) eliminates traditional design and production limitations, enabling the creation of complex geometries layer-by-layer from bulk material. The form of the material feedstock has a significant influence on design, efficiency, and process performance. A dichotomy is quickly emerging between powdered metal and wire across all AM technologies for metallic products. This article presents a unique perspective on powder bed fusion and laser-directed energy deposition (DED), two of the most mature metal AM processes, and wire-based electric arc DED, a promising newcomer. Despite its many advantages, confidence in wire Arc-DED lags behind powder processes due to their widespread familiarity. To accelerate research and adoption of wire-based Arc-DED, it is essential to appreciate the maturity of its foundational welding processes, increase metallurgical understanding, and optimize processing. To that end, a literature overview of physical characteristics, equipment availability, and process maturity for wire and powder is undertaken. The advantages and critical issues of wire-based Arc-DED are explicitly compared to those of powder-based DED, with detailed trade-offs in process, equipment, design, and safety drawn from firsthand knowledge. Critical issues in material properties and defects related to the nature of the feedstock are also examined, and wire-based innovations are discussed. The full-text article can be accessed at - https://lnkd.in/g_4wVxWB   Full citation – Lile Squires, & Amit Bandyopadhyay (2025). Metal additive manufacturing with powder and wire feedstocks. Virtual and Physical Prototyping. https://lnkd.in/gfB5eN9b #additivemanufacturing #3dprinting #wsu #metallurgy #msecoug

Robot as a 3D printer. 🦾🖨️ Laser Metal Deposition (LMD) uses a high-power laser to melt and apply metal onto a surface, creating or repairing parts with extreme precision. It’s used for: ↳ Repairs and surface restoration ↳ Wear and corrosion protection ↳ Full 3D component manufacturing The process feeds metal powder or wire into the laser’s path, melting both the filler and the surface to form a perfect bond. Robots are taking this to the next level. Wire-based LMD turns robotic arms into large-scale 3D printers that can produce strong, complex metal parts with incredible accuracy. KUKA, with partners like HS Automation GmbH, is integrating Meltio systems into robotic setups, enabling fully automated laser metal deposition and industrial-grade additive manufacturing. The future of 3D printing isn’t fixed. It moves, welds, and thinks.