Next Level Alloy Development

HS-DED: A Potential Game Changer for Efficient Alloy Development?

In the field of Additive Manufacturing (AM), the search for innovative solutions is ongoing.

When it comes to alloy design, traditional approaches are quite effective, but they may not be efficient when navigating the vast landscape of potential material compositions and process parameters.

A recent study led by DAP Expert Klaus Büßenschütt introduces the High-Speed Direct Energy Deposition (HS-DED) method as a promising approach to enhancing alloy design and production in AM.

The study compares HS-DED to the currently dominant metal AM technologies, Laser Powder Bed Fusion (PBF LB/M) and conventional DED-LB, using nickel alloy IN718 as a reference.

By carefully examining resulting microstructures using optical and scanning electron microscopy, as well as energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, this research evaluates the transferability of the HS-DED process.

The findings are promising, demonstrating that HS-DED can reproduce the range of cooling conditions and microstructural properties of PBF LB/M and DED-LB parts.

This breakthrough demonstrates the potential of HS-DED not only for rapid alloy development but also for enhancing the efficiency and sustainability of AM processes.

Moving forward, the implications of this study for the manufacturing industry and beyond are significant. By streamlining the alloy development process, HS-DED enables faster innovation cycles, reduced material waste, and the creation of more sustainable products.

This research is funded by the Digital Photonic Production DPP Research Campus and the NanoMatFutur project “MatAM – Design of additively manufactured high-performance alloys for automotive applications”by the he German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation)