Desktop Metal has added another material to its list of approved metals for its Production System additive manufacturing system.
D2 tool steel, which has been qualified following ASTM testing requirements, will be added to the company’s Production System materials portfolio, which already includes 420 stainless steel, nickel alloy IN625, 4140 low-alloy steel, 316L stainless steel, and 17-4PH stainless steel.
Jonah Myerberg, co-founder and CTO of Desktop Metal, said, “Our materials science team is always working to develop new materials and procedures to make 3D printing accessible to all industries and applications.”
“We’re responding to client demand for materials like D2 tool steel, which allows the production of important forming and cutting tools, as well as a variety of other applications where high hardness is valued,” says the company.
A New tool to desktop metal’s bag : D2 Tool Steel
According to the manufacturer, D2 tool steel is a flexible high-carbon, high-chromium air-hardening tool steel with high hardness and compressive strength after heat treatment.
In the hardened state, this tool steel also has excellent wear resistance, dimensional stability, and corrosion resistance.
Users may now 3D print parts for high-strength, high-temperature applications including cold work metal forming tools, dies, and punches,
as well as injection moulds with conformal cooling channels, using the material and Desktop Metal’s Single Pass Jetting (SPJ) technology.
Desktop Metal has discussed how the material may be utilized in oil and gas or chemical
processing applications to convert rotary motion into reciprocating linear motion in a machine,
highlighting the material’s applicability in heavy industry applications.
Cams can be created in a single-step process, which reduces part cost and lead time and allows for the creation of many cam sizes in a single build without the use of fixturing or tooling, as opposed to the traditional way of manufacture.
D2 tool steel is essential for this application, according to Desktop Metal, because of its hardness and corrosion resistance, which ensures a longer lifetime as the cam interacts mechanically with a sliding pin.
Furthermore, because these components are frequently used in machines that operate in hostile conditions, D2’s corrosion resistance assures that it will perform as intended and will not deteriorate.
Source: TCT
