When it comes to the additive manufacturing of highly conductive copper components, technology group Heraeus announces it has achieved 99.8% density and around 95% conductivity IACS using standard powder bed laser melting machines.
With this development, the group is opening up new industrial fields of application for the manufacturing of components used in mobile communication devices, consumer electronics and electromobility. The sourcing of replacement parts can be reduced from several months to a few days.
Heraeus Additive Manufacturing has overcome the technical obstacles in the additive manufacturing of highly conductive copper components and has optimised the material and the process on a standard printer. The material and manufacturing specialist produces components with 99.8% density of solid copper and conductivity of about 95% IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard). Around 85% IACS is the average in the market.
“With this boost in quality, additive manufacturing of highly conductive copper components is now possible, worthwhile and cost-efficient in many industrial sectors,” emphasises Tobias Caspari, Head of Heraeus Additive Manufacturing.
Examples of applications for this technology include components in the areas of electric drives, inductive heating, thermal management and other applications that utilise the electrical and thermal characteristics of copper.
In conventional manufacturing processes, manufacturing tolerances are often too high to achieve reproducibility in particularly sensitive manufacturing processes – for example, in the case of products for sophisticated cooling elements or laser transmission.
“We’ve solved this problem as well. We’re now working on further increasing the conductibility of micro-alloyed copper and applying our findings to other standard machines,” says Mr Caspari.
Customisation is necessary because each manufacturer’s machines behave differently. The quality of the component is determined by the material, the process and the printing system.
At Formnext 2018, starting today, Heraeus will present its new development and show highly conductive 3D-printed copper components. The material and process specialist will show additional technological highlights that are relevant for the fields of mobility, electronics, robotics, hydraulics, medicine and aerospace. The focus will be on additive manufacturing with special materials from the set of amorphous metals, refractory metals, precious metals, and alloys for lightweight construction, such as Scalmalloy.
Heraeus at Formnext 2018
November 13 – 16, 2018 Frankfurt/Main Hall 3.1, Booth D 58