Customized wear-resistant composite components through additive manufacturing and hot isostatic pressing
Motivation
Hot isostatic pressing (HIP) is an established process for manufacturing components of highest stress from metal or ceramic powder. In the conventional HIP process, simple capsules of sheet steel are welded, filled with powder, evacuated and consolidated under pressure and temperature. Due to the manual production of the capsules by welding, the components are subject to great geometric restrictions, the complexity is very limited. The automated production of the capsules by Additive Manufacturing (AM) enables the manufacture of almost any complexity of capsules and opens up completely new possibilities in combination with HIP. On the one hand, the geometric limitations of manual capsule production are eliminated and on the other hand, functional composite components can be produced. The capsules built up in the AM process can represent a corrosion or wear resistant surface, while the core is made of a tough tool steel by classical HIP powder. With the help of numerical geometry optimization, the components can also be optimized over the entire process chain, so that near-net-shape components are available at the end of the process chain and little post-processing is required. The basic feasibility of combining AM and HIP was demonstrated in a previous project. However, due to the limitations of the AM process Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) used, it was not possible to process wear-resistant and high-carbon materials. At this point this project, using alternative AM processes, starts with the aim to produce wear resistant capsules with a tough core.
Project contents
- Evaluation of suitable AM methods for processing wear-resistant and high-carbon materials
- Design of capsule wall thickness and geometry via numerical geometry optimization of the HIP process
- Development of a HIP-suitable soldering technology
- Development of adapted HIP and heat treatment parameters
- Qualification of the process chain by metallography and wear testing
- Validation of geometry optimization by optical metrology
Objectives
- Development of a process chain for the production of near-net-shape and wear-resistant components by additive manufacturing and hot isostatic pressing
- Adaptation and further development of an existing numerical geometry optimization
Project partners
- Fraunhofer IFAM Bremen, Fraunhofer IFAM Dresden, Fachverband Pulvermetallurgie
- Project support committee: Additive Works, Ampower, Barradas, Bleistahl, Bodycote, Coperion, Cremer Thermoprozessanlagen, Deloro HTM, Deutsche Edelstahlwerke, FIT, Höganäs, IFW Jena, PVA Löt- und Werkstofftechnik, Quintus Technologies
Grant Number: 21074 BG