Steel 3D Printing with Binder Jetting for Durability in Parts

Shapeways uses Binder Jetting for rapid prototyping as well as fast and efficient 3D printing of high-performance parts. Although the size of the metal powder particles drive features like density, material properties, layer thickness, and resolution, there is the potential for fine detail in parts.

Binder Jetting is a powder-based technology, relying on an ultrasonic dispenser, spreader, and compactor that act as the coating and recoating system. As each layer of powder is deposited, binder liquid is jetted out onto the build plate, serving to adhere the layers together, and eliminating the need for lasers or heat. 

No supports are required either, thanks to unsintered powder which stabilizes each part during the 3D printing process. This leads to much greater freedom in design, as intricate support structures do not have to be taken into consideration, or removed later either—decreasing the possibility of any parts being damaged in post-processing. Parts can also be nested, streamlining the print build with packing of parts to reduce the height of the build platform, save in the amount of materials used, and speed up production. Structures of different shapes and sizes can also be placed strategically for printing as well as protecting small or more fragile parts.

Shapeways Offers Several Different Steel 3D Printing Materials

Materials like steel continue to trend upward in 3D printing too for critical applications like automotive, aerospace, and medical—with manufacturers seeking substantial power and strength in metal 3D printing materials, but even more important—lightweight qualities. 

This is especially true for manufacturing vehicles with reducing emissions and gas consumption in mind, as well as improving aerodynamics for aircraft or rockets. Steel 3D printing materials are used in a continually expanding range of industries due to resistance to elements like corrosion, chemicals, high and low temperatures, and more.

Shapeways offers the following:

Steel

Made up of a material combination that is 60% steel and 40% bronze, Steel is affordable, strong, and mainly used for tools and accessories, home decor, and smaller industrial consumer goods like bottle openers or gaming dice.

This metal is available in the following colors:

• Bronze
• Gold
• Nickel
• Bronzed-Silver
• Black

A matte finish is available for Steel, featuring an unpolished, rough surface. A polished finish is also offered for shiny, smooth parts; however, note that parts larger than 150 x 150 x 150 or those with thinner details will be finished with bead blasting instead to avoid breakage. This may also present a rougher, less consistent result.

For this material, 3D models must be within the following minimum and maximum bounding box sizes:

• Bounding Box Min
  • 6 x 6 x 3 mm
• Bounding Box Max
  • 762 x 393 x 393 mm (Bronzed-Silver, Bronze, Black)
  • 178 x 178 x 178 mm (Gold, Nickel)
  • 152 x 152 x 76 (Polished models)
  • 178 x 178 x 178 (Plated models)

Find out more about the design guidelines here.

Stainless Steel 17-4 PH 

Stainless Steel 17-4 PH properties are known for hardness and toughness, as well as resistance to heat and corrosion. Parts 3D printed with this single-alloy material usually exhibit superior material properties as well as high resolution. 

Shapeways customers rely on Stainless Steel 17-4 PH for industrial manufacturing of:

• Fasteners
• Jigs and fixtures
• Machine tools
• Parts for oil and gas
• Pump components
• Valving

For this material, 3D models must be within the following minimum and maximum bounding box sizes:

• Bounding Box Min
  • 15 × 15 × 3 mm
• Bounding Box Max
  • 127 × 127 × 76.2 mm

This material is available in silver, with a granular, semi-matte finish that can be polished. Find out more about design guidelines for Stainless Steel 17-4 PH here.

Stainless Steel 316L

Shapeways customers reply on Stainless Steel 316L properties for the following industrial applications:

• Mechanical machinery
• Medical applications like surgical tooling
• Heat exchangers
• Fasteners and brackets

Stainless Steel 316L is available in a natural finish, blasted with ceramic media for a slightly rough surface and a matte finish. It is also offered in a polished finish, with 3D printed parts tumbled for a smooth surface. 

For this material, 3D models must be within the following minimum and maximum bounding box sizes:

• Bounding Box Min
  • 15 x 15 x 3 mm  
• Bounding Box Max
  • 127 x 127 x 76.2 mm

This material is available in a natural or polished finish. Find out more about design guidelines for Stainless Steel 316L here.

About Shapeways

Enjoy the benefits of this advanced technology and a wide range of materials from Shapeways for 3D printing your creations with accuracy, complex detail, and no minimum or limits in terms of mass customization or single part orders. Shapeways has worked with over 1 million customers in 160 countries to 3D print over 21 million parts! Read about case studies, find out more about Shapeways additive manufacturing solutions, and get instant quotes here.

The post Metal 3D Printing: The Durability of Steel appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

Material Properties

“Are the material properties the same between regular Strong & Flexible and Premium Strong & Flexible?”

Yes. The same material and printing process is used for Premium as our regular Strong & Flexible plastic material.

Appearance

“But how different is it from regular Strong and Flexible? Do you have any comparison photos?”

Premium adds a sheen to your product, giving it a more finished look. Due to the way it is processed, Premium will also have more color consistency across the geometry of the part. We know that there’s nothing like seeing the product in person, but hopefully these pictures provide a bit more detail.

Orchid Bracelet by Collected Edition

Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black Strong & Flexible (right)

Bracelet Bluups ORIGAMI R by Bluups

Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black Strong & Flexible (right)

Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black Strong & Flexible (right)

The sheen is more subtle for White. However, if you do any post-processing on your own, such as dyeing for your own custom color, your product will have much better color consistency with Premium. Additionally, you can expect the product to have a bit of sheen, as shown with the Black.

Feel & Surface Roughness

“How much smoother is Premium?”

Just saying Premium is smoother is vague. We get it. To quantify how much smoother Premium really is, we did some surface roughness tests.

A surface roughness tester quantifies the texture of a surface by measuring the distance between the peaks and valleys. The larger the distance and the higher the value, the rougher the surface. Small values indicate a smoother surface.

Surface roughness is measured by its Ra value. Ra is the average of these distances between the peaks and values on the surface to its “mean line.” You can think of the mean line as center line between the peaks and values.

We took 6 measurements on each sample. The averages of these values can be seen in the table below.

But so what? What does this mean?

Looking at the values in the table above, the Ra of Premium measured around 5 micrometers whereas regular Strong & Flexible measured around 10 micrometers. This means that in comparison to Strong & Flexible, Premium is about twice as smooth.

Dimensional Accuracy

“Is the dimensional accuracy different for Premium Strong & Flexible?”

We also tested the effect of our Premium finishing on the dimensional accuracy of the part by measuring multiple dimensions both before and after post-processing. Six measurements were taken on six different parts.

On average, the parts decreased in size by 0.9mm. The maximum material removed was 0.1mm.

We recommend slightly scaling up your design to account for this difference if dimensional accuracy is important for your product’s application.

Detail Level

“Do you lose more detail with Premium?”

Although the dimensional accuracy changes slightly with Premium, we did not notice any visible difference in details. Both embossed and engraved details looked very similar before and after finishing.

PremiumWhite S&F (Left) and White S&F (right)

Painting

“How is the surface for painting?”

We had a suspicion that Premium Strong & Flexible would be better for painting. After all, the surface is smoother and less porous.

After a quick test using acrylic paints, no noticeable difference was seen between Strong and Flexible and Premium Strong and Flexible. The paint seem to apply about the same and there was no noticeable visual difference. The picture below shows the surface with one layer of paint. However, we encourage you to test it out for yourselves!

Bracelet Bluups ORIGAMI R by Bluups
Black Strong & Flexible (left) and Premium Black (right)

We hope this was informative and answered your most pressing questions. Now, go test it out and tell us what you think!

The post Your Questions Answered: Premium Strong & Flexible Nylon Plastic appeared first on Shapeways Blog.

This finish will elevate your designs by offering a smoother, glossier surface. Premium Strong and Flexible is perfect for functional parts like phone cases and interlocking mechanisms to jewelry, art, and home decor that are designed to be durable, yet soft to the touch.

Design by Kasia Wisniewski

Premium is finished with a multi-step tumbling, polishing and dyeing process to create a consistent color and surface finish, while removing the grainy feel and layered look of 3D printed parts. Although it is available in both Black and White, we recommend Black for products you’ll carry or wear, like necklaces, rings, bracelets, phone cases, money clips, keychains, eyeglasses, and other personal accessories.

try it now

Design by Michiel Cornelissen

As a designer or shop owner, this new finish will empower you to deliver on your most discerning customers’ expectations – to design products that equal injection-molded finishes. The added smoothness and eggshell sheen of Premium will meet the quality expectations of high-end consumers, enabling you to offer unique, customized products with a finished look and feel.

Premium Strong and Flexible was developed in response to your demand for top-quality wearable and touchable products, in collaboration with members of the Shapeways community. Your feedback has been invaluable through this development process. We are proud to deliver this next-generation offering as a result of your generous participation.

To try out Premium on your own designs, upload here.

To find out how to help Shapeways test future product developments, click here.

print in premium

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