Water Atomized Pure Iron for Laser Powder Bed Fusion

The project was initiated alongside Rio Tinto to create a novel recipe for water atomized pure iron. The objectives were to reduce the cost of LPBF (laser powder bed fusion) powders and to reduce the need for supports broadening the range of shapes that can be printed and making the LPBF process more economical.

Powder cost reductions are achieved both via the use of the less costly water atomization process, an inexpensive alloy composition, and via economy of scale via partnership with RioTinto. The resultant pure iron is an inexpensive material that has potential in low frequency soft magnetic applications and other industrial production sectors.

The LPBF process was made more economical due to the decreased need for supports, which broadens the range of shapes that can be printed.  This was achieved at MSAM through the development of print recipes via though thermal physical modeling and experimental validation.

The complex rotor fins, interior lattices, and unsupported surfaces (30° to the horizontal) were all successfully printed. For the Radial Fan Demonstrator, print times for the unsupported approach (shown in Figure (b)) were reduced by 25% over conventional support strategies (shown in Figure (a)).

The images of the Radial Fan Demonstrator below are design proprietary to Dana Inc. and are shown with permission.

(Left) Original design. (Middle) Optimization Design with 30˚ incline and reduced supports.

For additional information, refer to the data sheet; A. Rogalsky et al, J. Manuf. Process., vol. 35, pp. 446–456, Oct. 2018