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HRL Laboratories 3D-prints high-strength aluminum, solves age-old welding problem with nanoparticles

It looks like the original research was done on a Concept Laser machine but the practice/technique is expected to be repeatable with Arcam's Electron Beam Melting machines.

HRL Laboratories - R&D for The Boeing Company and General Motors (LLC Members) and Formerly Hughes Research Laboratories (established 1948)

At 3ders.org - HRL Laboratories 3D prints high-strength aluminum, solves age-old welding problem with nanoparticles - Sep 21, 2017

The introduction and end:

HRL Laboratories, a Boeing-owned corporate R&D lab located in Malibu, California, has developed a technique for successfully 3D printing high-strength aluminum alloys, including Al7075 and Al6061. The technique could have big implications for aerospace and automotive.

As more and more researchers look to get involved with additive manufacturing research, more materials are becoming 3D printable—wood, ceramics, and even food are some of the more unusual substances to be turned printable in the name of additive manufacturing progress.

From an economic perspective, however, few of those breakthroughs will prove to be as significant as HRL Laboratories’ recent discovery: a technique for printing previously unprintable aluminum alloys.

Capable of processing high-strength alloys like Al7075 and Al6061 (as well as certain steels and nickel-based superalloys), this new technique could be an absolute game-changer for the aerospace and automotive industries, potentially providing a way to fabricate important components for new planes, cars, and other systems.

Strangely enough, the secret to the breakthrough can be traced back to the middle of the 20th century.

“We're using a 70-year-old nucleation theory to solve a 100-year-old problem with a 21st century machine,” commented HRL’s Hunter Martin, who co-led the team alongside Brennan Yahata, a fellow engineer in the HRL Sensors and Materials Laboratory and PhD student at the University of California.

The duo have authored a research paper on the study, titled “3D printing of high-strength aluminum alloys,” under the supervision of Professor Tresa Pollock, who was also a co-author. It was published in the journal Nature.

So what’s different about this new metal 3D printing technique that borrows from bygone theories? Well, most crucially, it uses a process called “nanoparticle functionalization” to “decorate” high-strength (but unweldable) alloy powders with specially selected nanoparticles.

The powders, newly adorned with these nanoparticles, are fed into a 3D printer, which layers the powder and fuses each layer in the normal manner of Selective Laser Melting (SLM).
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Excitingly, the HRL team even thinks the new technique could benefit additive manufacturing processes besides SLM. They say the method “provides a foundation for broad industrial applicability, including where electron-beam melting or directed-energy-deposition techniques are used instead of selective laser melting.”


HRL Laboratories, LLC Published on Sep 20, 2017
MALIBU, Calif. Sept 20, 2017 — HRL Laboratories, LLC, has made a breakthrough in metallurgy, developing a technique for successfully 3D printing high-strength aluminum alloys — including types Al7075 and Al6061 — that opens the door to additive manufacturing of engineering-relevant alloys.

The nanoparticle-functionalized powder is fed into a 3-D printer, which layers the powder and laser-fuses each layer to construct a three-dimensional object. Credit: B. Ferguson - HRL Laboratories





For reference:

At hrl.com/news - METALLURGY BREAKTHROUGH: HRL ENGINEERS 3D PRINT HIGH-STRENGTH ALUMINUM, SOLVE AGES-OLD WELDING PROBLEM USING NANOPARTICLES - Sept 20, 2017

At phys.org/news - Engineers 3-D print high-strength aluminum, solve ages-old welding problem using nanoparticles - September 20, 2017

The original research published at nature.com - 3D printing of high-strength aluminium alloy - 20 September 2017


With this exciting new technique, HRL stands at the forefront of a new chapter in additive manufacturing of metals for research, industry, and defense. Credit: M. Durant HRL Laboratories




If you have time and the inclination the speaker in the video below is Ian Todd, one of the reviewers of the presented research.
Professor Iain Todd, BEng, PhD, FIMMM, Director, MAPP EPSRC Future Manufacturing Hub, GKN/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair Additive Manufacturing, Professor of Metallurgy, The University of Sheffield (UK)


Designing Alloys for 3D Printing | Iain Todd | University of Sheffield | TCT Show

Dr Iain Todd, GKN/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair, University of Sheffield, presents at TCT Show + Personalize 2015 Conference on the fundamentals of alloy design for additive manufacturing and materials research across industries.