What Is the 3D Technology?

3D printing technology is getting better, and sales of related products and services continue to rise. According to Wohlers Associates, between 1992 and 2017, 3D printing products and related services grew at a compound annual growth rate of 25.4%. In the world, the country that produces and buys the most 3D printers is the United States, and China accounts for a small share. In 2020, the world’s 3D printing market share will reach about $12 billion, with the United States accounting for about 50%, Europe accounting for about 25%, China and Japan accounting for about 10% each, and other countries and regions accounting for about 5%.

Aluminum Is Widely Used in 3D Print.

The 3D printing industry is a versatile industry that can manufacture almost any product, and the materials used can be metal or non-metal. Among the metal materials used, aluminum alloy is the most used. All parts, items, instruments, etc. that can be manufactured with traditional processes can use 3D printing technology. Since 2019, the development of China’s 3D printing industry has accelerated, and in some products, it has been at the world’s leading level, but in general, there is still some gap compared with advanced countries, and by about 2025, it can become the global leader.

What Type of Aluminum Material Is Mainly Used?

2219 aluminum alloy can be used for 3D printing wire. 2219 aluminum alloy is a kind of Al-Cu high strength aluminum alloy, which has been widely used in aerospace and defense military industry, and its calibrated composition (mass %) : Si0.2, Fe0.3, Cu5.8-6.8, Mn0.2-0.4, Mg0.02, Zn0.1, Ti0.02-0.1, V0.05-0.15, Zr0.1-0.25, other impurities single 0.05, total 0.15, the rest is AI, now has developed to 4 alloys, The others are 2319, 2419 and 2519.

New Method to Use Aluminum during 3D Print.

The manufacturing process of double performance monolithic blade disk technology mainly adopts welding method, and the blade and disc with different properties are welded as a whole by linear friction welding and other technologies. However, the biggest shortcoming of the welding method is that the connection area often becomes the weak link of the entire component and becomes a fatal hidden danger of the engine. With the development and maturity of 3D printing technology, it is proposed to print blades directly on the disk body, and through the coaxial powder feeding laser cladding process, the convex is pre-processed on the edge of the titanium alloy disk body, and the titanium alloy blades are stacked layer by layer.