ORNL Combines 3D Printing and Casting for Stronger Parts

As Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) recently discovered, the combination of 3D printing with traditional casting results in stronger, more damage-tolerant components. In a recently published paper entitled "Damage-tolerant metallic composites via melt infiltration of additively manufactured preforms," a team of ORNL researchers details how they used a two-step process to fabricate strong composite metal parts. The process involved 3D printing a steel lattice and then pouring an aluminum alloy over it, in a variation of traditional metal casting. Tension tests on parts with 39 vol% steel showed an order of magnitude improvement over the strain to failure of the aluminum alloy alone. Learn more at 3DPrint.com: http://3dprint.com/180225/ornl-3d-printing-casting/

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