Speaker
Description
The combination of the increasing use of additive technologies and the availability of advanced materials allows for further efficiency improvements in existing applications and more sustainable solutions. The widespread use of silicon steels opens up many areas of development for engineers working in more depth with additive technology.
In this study, the $3$D printing applications of four different iron-silicon alloys (Fe-$6.5$wt$\%$Si, Fe-$6.9$wt$\%$Si, FeSiB, and gradient FeSi) were investigated. The materials were prepared by gas atomization and mechanical grinding, with the samples being prepared by selective laser melting (SLM). The effects of several printing parameters, such as print orientation, volumetric energy density (VED), and table temperature, were investigated. The samples produced were toroidal and sheet metal plate samples, on which the complex magnetic permeability spectrum and DC hysteresis curve were investigated. Due to the unique microstructure and crystal structure of the printed samples, optical and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) studies, as well as computed tomography (CT) measurements, were performed to investigate their porosity.
The comparison shows that materials that cannot be machined by other technologies can be printed in complex geometries and large sizes. By fine-tuning the SLM printing parameters, these materials can be tailored to the specific application.
