A GE engineer offers advice on choosing an alloy for metal 3D printing

GE Additive

GE Additive Senior Materials Engineer Mike Baughman recently posted an article to the company’s website about selecting the best alloy for metal 3D printing operations.

“Choosing the right alloy for your part can be a daunting task—especially if you are looking to use a completely new alloy for your component,” Baughman wrote. “However, the process doesn’t have to be overwhelming.”

Nor does the reader need to be a materials engineer to understand the author’s message. Baughman presents his ideas in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner.

Here are the key subtopics he discusses in the article, titled “Get the Facts on … Alloy Selection”:

• At what point in a product’s development should additive users start thinking about alloy selection?

• How is alloy selection in additive different from conventional manufacturing?

• Is there an opportunity to write, or rewrite, the handbook on alloy selection?

• Do alloy handbooks and previous experience lead additive users to make assumptions about alloy selection?

• Do designers always want to know about material properties straightaway, or are they thinking about the part, the end application, or the machine first?

• What are some of the practical steps to alloy selection?

• How does GE Additive help customers find the right material for an application?

• Is there a need for more industry standardization?

Baughman wraps up the article with this advice: “While additive might seem daunting to companies used to having everything they know at their fingertips, in the form of industry handbooks and data sheets, it is important to discard any preconceived notions about additive and reset your way of thinking in order to harness its full potential.”

Click here to read the entire article.