Nanosteel introduces 3D printable tool steel
18 July 2017
Nanostructured steel materials company NanoSteel recently launched its first product for the laser powder bed fusion additive manufacturing process. BLDRmetal L-40 is a case-hardening steel powder that provides high hardness and ductility (case hardness >70HRC, 10%+ core elongation) and prints easily on standard commercial equipment.
This alloy provides superior performance to M300 maraging steel and is an alternative to difficult-to-print tool steels such as H13. Expanding the potential use of 3D printing in a wide variety of hard materials markets, BLDRmetal L-40 is designed to be used for parts including tools, dies, bearings and gears.
Nanosteel has demonstrated the capabilities of BLDRmetal L-40 by printing an 8-inch roll thread die set, which outperformed dies machined from D2 and M2 tool steels.
NanoSteel developed this high-hardness alloy through rapid iterative development at CFK GmbH, an industry-leading 3D printing service provider, whose expertise was instrumental in developing the die from concept to finished part.
For us, the most important attributes of NanoSteel’s BLDRmetal™ L-40 are that it is easily implemented and creates crack-free high hardness components, which sets it apart from the many other tool steels we have tested.
—Dr-Ing. Christoph Over, CEO at CFK
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