Liquid Metal Printing (LMP) Opens Up New Manufacturing Options

AUSTIN, Texas - Oct. 31, 2024 - PRLog -- What is Liquid Metal Printing (LMP)?

Researchers at MIT have developed a new process for creating metal parts called liquid metal printing (LMP).

Rather than relying on using a laser to heat metal powders to form solid metal parts – an approach commonly used in Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) or the higher-temperature Selective Laser Melting (SLM) process – liquid metal printing works directly with molten metal, pouring a new part directly on a bed of sand, which helps constrain the shape of the molten metal while it cools in place until it can be safely removed.

How does Liquid Metal Printing stack up to Conventional Metal Printing Methods such as Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) or Selective Laser Melting (SLM)?

Liquid metal printing is not a one-to-one replacement for conventional 3D metal printing. Let's look at how it stacks up, broken down by categories:

• Shape Complexity

Unlike conventional metal printing (which can create complex shapes that can exceed the capabilities of 5-axis CNC machine tools), MIT's liquid metal printing prototype is limited to making simple shapes that are constrained to a flat plane. While this is a major shortcoming, many parts, such as structural support frames, are essentially 2D in nature and can be printed using this method.

• Surface Finish / Post Processing

Conventional SLS or SLM metal printing can produce complex, detailed parts with fairly smooth exterior surfaces. Depending on the application, these printed exterior surfaces may be usable as is or be further refined/polished.

In contrast, the output of liquid metal printing is not uniform at all; instead, it's characterized by noticeable "blobby" surface features. While these parts can be utilized "as-is" in hidden locations, most LMP parts will be considered an intermediate work-in-process (e.g. a metal "billet") that will require additional machining to produce a smooth, dimensioned surface.

• Throughput Volume

Given that Liquid Metal Printing can pour a single part very quickly, it should be faster than conventional 3D metal printing, which requires a slow layer-by-layer additive process to create a single part.

On the other hand, LMP parts will need to cool and harden off before removal, which will take a discrete amount of time. Also, if you are only making a single part, the time required to heat the raw material (e.g. metal) in a crucible might cut into LMP's throughput advantage.

Read more...https://formaspace.com/articles/manufacturing/liquid-meta...