RMIT unveils low-cost titanium alloy for metal Additive Manufacturing
Engineers from the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) University, Melbourne, Australia, have developed a technique for producing a new type of additively manufactured titanium that’s reported to be around a third cheaper than commonly used titanium alloys. The team are reported to have used readily available and cheaper alternative materials to replace the increasingly expensive vanadium.
Using the new technique, the RMIT team was able to produce a titanium alloy with improved strength and performance compared to standard AM titanium alloys (Ti-6Al-4V). Through this design framework, the metal is also said to additively manufacture more evenly, avoiding the column-shaped microstructures that lead to uneven mechanical properties in some AM alloys.
RMIT’s Centre for Additive Manufacturing (RCAM) PhD candidate Ryan Brooke, who has just accepted a Research Translation Fellowship at RMIT to investigate the next steps of commercialising the technology, explained that there are many chances for development in the field of additively manufactured titanium alloys.
“3D printing allows faster, less wasteful and more tailorable production, yet we’re still relying on legacy alloys like Ti-6Al-4V that don’t allow full capitalisation of this potential. It’s like we’ve created an aeroplane and are still just driving it around the streets,” he said. “New types of titanium and other alloys will allow us to really push the boundaries of what’s possible with 3D printing and the framework for designing new alloys outlined in our study is a significant step in that direction.”
The team’s research was discussed in ‘Compositional criteria to predict columnar to equiaxed transitions in metal Additive Manufacturing’, recently published in Nature. The work outlines the method of selecting elements for alloying to best leverage AM technology and provides a more transparent framework for predicting the grain structure of metal AM alloys.
“By developing a more cost-effective formula that avoids this columnar microstructure, we have solved two key challenges preventing widespread adoption of 3D printing,” said Brooke.
Recently, Brooke completed market validation as part of CSIRO’s ON Prime programme, talking to aerospace, automotive and MedTech industry representatives about their needs. He explained, “What I heard loud and clear from end users was that to bring new alloys to market, the benefits have to not just be minor incremental steps but a full leap forward, and that’s what we have achieved here.”
“We have been able to not only produce titanium alloys with a uniform grain structure, but with reduced costs, while also making it stronger and more ductile.”
Professor Mark Easton, corresponding author of ‘Compositional criteria to predict columnar to equiaxed transitions in metal Additive Manufacturing’, said that RMIT’s Centre for AM is currently focused on fostering collaborations to further the technology.
“We are very excited about the prospects of this new alloy, but it requires a team from across the supply chain to make it successful. So, we are looking for partners to provide guidance for the next stages of development,” he said.
The full research paper is available here.
