Swedish engineers from Sandvik will unveil a 3D printed industrial diamond composite at this year’s additive manufacturing show, RAPID + TCT in Detroit. The engineers claim the 3D printed industrial diamond composite is a world first.
Diamond composite is 58 times harder than anything found in nature and is used in tools for drilling and machining. However, it has previously been impossible to produce anything other than very simple shapes.
The Sandvik engineers have changed this using 3D printing. It’s now possible to create industrial diamonds in geometric shapes.
“Even now we are just starting to grasp the possibilities and applications that this breakthrough could have,” explains Sandvik delivery manager Anders Ohlsson. “On seeing its potential, we began to wonder what else would be possible from 3D-printing complex shapes in a material that is three times stiffer than steel, with heat conductivity higher than copper, the thermal expansion close to Invar – and with a density close to aluminum.”
It is likely that the diamond composite will revolutionize the machining industry and result in new advanced applications in space programs and wear parts, adds Ohlsson.
3D Printing Revolutionizes the Machining Industry
Sandvik’s material is not synthetic or natural but a composite which is mostly pure diamond. However, it also has a matrix material to ensure it can be printed. The result has most of the physical properties of pure diamond.
To create the complex geometries, the engineers print a semi-liquid mixture of polymer and diamond powder using an SLA 3D printer. After this is complete, the engineers perform a proprietary post-processing method which ensures the properties of a dense diamond composite are produced.
If this post-processing works, the resulting diamond offers high heat conductivity, hardness, and low density. It also offers corrosion resistance and great thermal expansion.
“Sandvik’s 3D printed diamond composite is a true innovation,” added Susanne Norgren, Adjunct Professor in Applied Materials Science at Uppsala University. “It means that we can begin to use diamond in applications and shapes never conceived possible before.”
Source: The Engineer
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