The material is said to be a first for the binder jet market and promises 99.9% pure copper.
Affirming 2021’s standing as “the year of binder jet” 3D printing, Digital Metal has announced the addition of pure copper to its range of metal binder jet materials.
The Höganäs Group subsidiary now counts DM Cu amongst its range of stainless steels, tool steels, titanium and super alloys currently available for its metal additive manufacturing (AM) platform, which supports the manufacture of incredibly small, high-precision components with complex geometries.
The material is said to be a first for the binder jet market and promises 99.9% pure copper with properties superior to that of copper alloys currently used in laser-based AM systems. Applications such as electronics, heat exchangers and engine components will benefit most from the material’s thermal and electrical conductivity properties combined with the design freedom afforded by Digital Metal’s DM P2500 system.
Christian Lönne, CEO at Digital Metal, described the news as “one of the most anticipated material launches ever.”
He continued: “Copper has been high up on our customers’ wish list and timing is perfect with the demand for copper applications soaring in fast growth areas such as e-mobility and heat conductivity. We have been developing the process for some time internally, but I would really like to emphasise the value of the excellent cooperation with key customers in our fast-growing Digital Metal User Group. It has been a great help and we are now very pleased to deliver a high-quality copper process for Digital Metal binder jetting.”
Digital Metal’s binder jet technology has been adopted by a number of users including technology and research centres such as the Manufacturing Technology Centre in the UK and CETIM (the French Technology Center for Mechanical Industries). The company’s metal printing services have also produced close to one million components for several high-profile customers including Honeywell, Bosch and Volvo, while 30 different geometries are currently in serial production at its production plant in Sweden.
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