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2016
Conference Paper
Titel
3D screen printing-additive manufacturing of finely structured titanium based parts
Abstract
During the past decade the amount of titanium parts produced has grown very fast. This is not at last due to the rising additive manufacturing (AM) market. 3D screen printing is an AM method forthe production of preferably small intricate parts with minimal material waste and almost no machining costs. Similar to metal injection molding (MIM), it is based on parts forming, debinding and sintering. Due to the use of very small powder particles and organic binders, oxygen control is crucial. The goal of this study was to develop a suitable secondary process for reducing oxygen in nearly dense 3D screen printed and sintered titanium parts for improvement of their mechanical properties. Starting oxygen contents of 3D screen printed parts were around 0.4 wt-%. After molten salt electrolysis,oxygen content could be lowered to less than 0.1 wt-%, this way allowing forthe use of cheaper titanium powders.