EOS adds new 3D materials

Adds four new metal materials for additive manufacturing (AM) including two stainless steel, one tool steel, and one nickel alloy

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EOS
Aerospike nozzle design concept, material EOS NickelAlloy Haynes 282. Photo EOS

EOS, which has developed a wide portfolio of industrial 3D printers, has introduced four new metal materials for additive manufacturing for its M290 metal printers.

These materials include two stainless steels, one tool steel and one nickel alloy. This last, NickelAllow Haynes 282 is a nickel alloy powder, more specifically, a precipitation-strengthened nickel-base superalloy. It was developed for high temperature structural applications and is manufactured under license from Haynes International Inc. It’s said to offer high temperature strength, thermal stability, good corrosion, and oxidation resistance as well as easy fabricability and good weldability. Typical applications range from aerospace and rocket engine components to turbo-machinery and gas turbine parts, as well as for energy industry components.

Then there’s ToolSteel CM55, which comes with a 40/80 µm process for the M290 system. It is a cobalt-free steel that’s said to offer ultra-high strength and high hardness, suitable for tooling and engineering solutions. Its alloying elements and moderate carbon content form a strong and stable structure for demanding applications and for the use in elevated temperatures. Typical applications are cold and hot working tools, powertrain components and parts for mechanical engineering.

For difficult environments, there’s StainlessSteel SuperDuplex, which also offers a 40/80 µm process for the M290. This is an austenitic-ferritic duplex stainless steel optimized for additive manufacturing while maintaining super duplex properties. It features high chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen alloying that should give good corrosion resistance, making it suitable for use in difficult environments. It has good resistance to uniform, pitting and crevice corrosion, as well as enabling high strength together with high corrosion resistance. EOS says that the optimization of phase balance enables use of parts in an ‘as manufactured’ condition in many use cases. The material is particularly suited for applications in the oil and gas industry, in pulp and paper manufacturing devices and for mining and offshore equipment.

Finally, for extreme conditions, there’s StainlessSteel 254, an austenitic stainless steel that comes with a 40/60 µm process for the M290. It features high chromium, molybdenum and nitrogen alloying, which should give good corrosion resistance in difficult environments. It performs well in stress corrosion cracking tests and promises higher strength than conventional austenitic steel. It also shows good resistance to uniform, pitting and crevice corrosion. The material is particularly suited for applications such as chlorinated seawater handling equipment, pulp, and paper manufacturing devices as well as chemical handling equipment.

Sascha Rudolph, SVP BU Metal Materials at EOS, commented: “Material development is always driven by customer demand and very often is the result of a close customer cooperation. These four new metal materials were designed and optimized specifically to the needs of additive manufacturing. We are increasing application opportunities for demanding industries by bringing AM tailored alloys to our customers.”

All of these materials have been designed for use with the EOS M290 metal printer. This uses a 400 watt YB Fiber laser and has a build area of 250 x 250 x 325mm. There’s already a broad range of metals available for use with it, including stainless steel, aluminium, cobalt chrome, NickelAlloy, titanium and Copper. You can find further details on these materials and the M290 printer from eos.info.

2023 promises an interesting ride for print in India

Indian Printer and Publisher founded in 1979 is the oldest B2B trade publication in the multi-platform and multi-channel IPPGroup. While the print and packaging industries have been resilient in the past 33 months since the pandemic lockdown of 25 March 2020, the commercial printing and newspaper industries have yet to recover their pre-Covid trajectory.

The fragmented commercial printing industry faces substantial challenges as does the newspaper industry. While digital short-run printing and the signage industry seem to be recovering a bit faster, ultimately their growth will also be moderated by the progress of the overall economy. On the other hand book printing exports are doing well but they too face several supply-chain and logistics challenges.

The price of publication papers including newsprint has been high in the past year while availability is diminished by several mills shutting down their publication paper and newsprint machines in the past four years. Indian paper mills are also exporting many types of paper and have raised prices for Indian printers. To some extent, this has helped in the recovery of the digital printing industry with its on-demand short-run and low-wastage paradigm.

Ultimately digital print and other digital channels will help print grow in a country where we are still far behind in our paper and print consumption and where digital is a leapfrog technology that will only increase the demand for print in the foreseeable future. For instance, there is no alternative to a rise in textbook consumption but this segment will only reach normality in the next financial year beginning on 1 April 2023.

Thus while the new normal is a moving target and many commercial printers look to diversification, we believe that our target audiences may shift and change. Like them, we will also have to adapt with agility to keep up with their business and technical information needs.

Our 2023 media kit is ready, and it is the right time to take stock and reconnect with your potential markets and customers. Print is the glue for the growth of liberal education, new industry, and an emerging economy. We seek your participation in what promises to be an interesting ride.

– Naresh Khanna

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