Canadian mining firm Scandium Canada has accomplished preliminary 3D printing exams of two new aluminum-scandium alloy powders at McMaster College’s College of Engineering. The exams utilized laser powder mattress fusion expertise, which makes use of lasers to soften and fuse steel powders layer by layer. The corporate experiences these specialised alloys might assist scale back solidification microcracks in the course of the printing course of.
The take a look at items have been printed alongside samples utilizing customary industrial alloys for comparability functions. Scandium Canada plans to guage the mechanical properties of those specimens over the following two months, together with testing each heat-treated and untreated variations of the supplies.
The event comes after Scandium Canada filed provisional patent functions for the 2 alloy formulations with the US Patent and Trademark Workplace in September 2024. The corporate goals to market these supplies to industries requiring fast adoption of latest options, significantly in sectors the place conventional aluminum 7075 alloys are at the moment used.
Technical knowledge means that including simply 0.4% scandium to aluminum alloys can enhance power by as much as eight occasions. This property makes these supplies significantly related for aerospace functions, the place they may doubtlessly substitute conventional riveted building strategies. Boeing has estimated that utilizing aluminum-scandium alloys may scale back manufacturing prices by as much as $3 million per plane.
The corporate, at the moment valued at C$6.3 million, has begun approaching potential customers excited about impartial testing of 3D-printed components made with these new alloys. Goal industries embody aerospace, automotive, and army functions, the place the supplies might be utilized in parts akin to plane wings, fuselage components, and mechanical components.
Supply: mining.com.au
