Multi-material Additive Manufacturing Through Selective Powder Deposition

Abstract

Multi-material fabrication allows to take advantage of each material characteristics and combine them in one single part, like for example high hardenability with high thermal conductivity.Using the Selective Powder Deposition (SPD) technique, it's possible to produce multi-material metal parts where one powder with a lower melting point infiltrates another powder. This process does not require lasers or binders, and support powders can be reused, resulting in almost zero waste. This research focuses on the development and optimization of SPD for multi-material combination of tool steel 1.2344 (H13) and copper (Cu). Test specimens were initially produced using each material individually, allowing the evaluation of deposition quality and material behaviour. The resulting samples exhibited a certain degree of porosity. Based on the complementary thermal and metallurgical properties of H13 and copper, it is expected that this porosity can be mitigated or even overcome through controlled multi-material deposition, leading to improved densification.