MATERIALS CHARACTERIZATION, no.12, pp.1728-1735, 2008 (SCI-Expanded)
Three-dimensional printing is a rapid prototyping process in which powdered materials are deposited in layers and selectively joined with binder from an ink-jet style print head. By this method, three-dimensional objects are created directly from their computer-aided design models. This process consists of a moving print head spreading liquid binder through nozzles on a stationary powder bed for fabrication of green parts using computer-aided design data in a layer-wise manner. This process provides the possibility of direct manufacturing of high performance components. In this study production of full-density three-dimensional superalloy parts by three-dimensional printing with a single sintering step was aimed. For this purpose, Inconel 718 superalloy powders were used. Various shaped parts were produced with 100-200 mu m layer thicknesses and then sintered at 1260-1300 degrees C temperatures. Densities of these samples were measured and microstructural evaluations were made. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.