HRL Laboratories
HRL Laboratories aluminium parts
Additively manufactured high-strength aluminum parts.
The Aluminum Association (AA) has established a registration system for additive manufacturing alloys with an HRL Laboratories high-strength aluminium being the first to be validated.
AA oversees alloy registration and product standards within the aluminium space, offering its expertise and statistics to manufacturers and policy makers. Through conversations with HRL Laboratories, a centre conducting research into materials, automated data extraction, computing and communications, and more, the organisation moved to set up the additive alloy registration system back in February.
The high-strength aluminium alloy has been decorated with specially selected nanoparticles, which work to prevent hot cracking and retain full strength to the part during the 3D printing process. Upon developing the material, which is said to be generating interest within the aerospace and automotive markets, HRL requested AA registration but AA had not yet developed a system to validate additive alloys. Launching it nearly 18 months later, AA went back to HRL to make the alloy the first AA-registered aluminium material for additive manufacturing, giving the aluminium powder the registration number 7A77.50 and the printed alloy 7A77.60L.
“Essentially, this will connect us to this particular alloy composition forever,” commented Hunter Martin, an HRL scientist who led the team that created the alloy. “These alloy numbers will always be trackable back to HRL, like a DNA signature. When I first contacted the Aluminum Association about registering our alloy, they did not have a way to register alloys printed from powders, so they decided to create a new system for registration of additively manufactured materials – a first in the materials space.”
“We’re in the process of commercialising this material, which is already in high demand,” added Zak Eckel, another HRL team member. “As we scale up to commercial levels, AA registration validates our product. Companies who want the powder for their 3D printers can ask for its specific number, and it becomes a true commercial alloy.”
