Overview of Materials Used in

Additive Manufacturing
D.L. Bourell
Temple Foundation Professor
The University of Texas at Austin

NSF Workshop: Environmental Implications of Additive Manufacturing

Arlington VA
October 14, 2014
 Material Demands for AM

• Form Proper Feedstock

• Fabricator Processability
• Post-Processability as Needed
• Acceptable Service Properties
 Material for Additive Manufacturing

SL

LS, FDM SLM, EBM,

DED
“Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing: Identifying the Future of Freeform Processing”, D.L. Bourell, M.C. Leu, D.W.
Rosen, eds, The University of Texas at Austin, 2009, 92 pages.
 Material for Additive Manufacturing

• Composites
• Binders
 Transient
 Permanent
• Support Structures
• Graded Structures
• Multi-Materials

“Roadmap for Additive Manufacturing: Identifying the Future of Freeform Processing”, D.L. Bourell, M.C. Leu, D.W.
Rosen, eds, The University of Texas at Austin, 2009, 92 pages.
 Materials Grand Challenge in AM

• Quality
• Process Consistency, Repeatability
• Reliability
• Wide Diversity of Compositions
• Superior Structure and Properties
• Low (Feedstock and Processing) Cost
 Materials for Fused Deposition Modeling
(Amorphous Thermoplastics)
• ABS [Acryonitrile Butadiene Styrene] $7-115/lb
• Polycarbonate $113/lb
• PC/ABS Blend
• PLA [Polylactic Acid] $7-25/lb
• Polyetherimide (PEI) [Stratasys ULTEM] $220/lb
• Nylon Co-Polymer (new in 2012)
Source: 2012 Wohlers Report
 Materials for
Stereolithography and Material Jetting
(Proprietary Thermosets, ~$100/lb)

• Acrylics
• Acrylates
• Epoxies
• “ABS-like” (Material Jetting)

Source: 2012 Wohlers Report

 Materials for Laser Sintering
(Crystalline/Semi-Crystalline Thermoplastics)
• Polyamide (Nylon) 11 and 12 ~$40/lb
Neat
Glass Filled
Carbon Filled
Metal (Al) Filled
• Polystyrene (Lost Wax Patterns)
• Polypropylene
• Polyester (“Flex”)
• Polyetheretherkeytone (PEEK) ~$200/lb
• Thermoplastic Polyurethane (new in 2012)
• Nylon 6 (new in 2012)

Source: 2012 Wohlers Report

 Metals for AM (BJ, DED, PBF, SL)
• Tool Steel ~$50/lb Most Popular:
• Stainless Steel ~$50/lb SLM
• Aluminum Alloys ~$50/lb
EBM
• Co-Cr Alloys ~$55-250/lb
• Nickel Alloys ~$95-125/lb BJ (ExOne)
• CP Titanium ~$150-400/lb
• Ti-6Al-4V ~$150-400/lb DED (LENS, POM, etc.)
• Gold
• Silver LOM (UAM)

Source: 2012 Wohlers Report

 AM Materials/Properties Summary

Property AM Parts Compared to Conventional Processing

Stiffness Equal
Strength As Strong or Stronger
Hardness Harder or as Hard
Ductility Less Ductile
Fatigue (Cyclic) Weaker
Toughness Less Tough

Post-processing to remove porosity (e.g., hot isostatic pressing)

restores all properties if the interfaces are properly destroyed
 Summary of AM Mechanical Behavior

Metals Polymers Non-Metallics

Modulus of Porosity Driven Porosity Driven Porosity Driven
Elasticity (Power Law) (Power Law)
Strength/Ductility Porosity Driven Porosity Driven Porosity Driven
Isotropic (High ∆) Anisotropic (Ductility) Weibull Mod.
Fatigue σe<0.5UTS or no σe -
Fracture Less or equal to bulk -
Toughness
ρ
∆= =1−ε
ρth
 Processing Effects on Porosity in SLM
Processed 17-4 Stainless Steel

Power = 190 W Power = 190 W

Vscan = 1.30 m/s Vscan = 0.80 m/s
Tlayer = 50 µm Tlayer = 30 µm

A.B. Spierings, K. Wegener, G. Levy, “Designing Material Properties Locally with Additive Manufacturing
Technology SLM”, Proc. SFF Symposium (2012), pp. 447-455.
 Examples of Porosity in EBM Ti-6Al-4V

Khalid Rafi, H., Karthik N.V., Thomas L. Starr, Brent E. Stucker, “Defect formation in EBM parts built in horizontal
orientation”, Proc. SFF Symposium (2012), pp. 456-467.
 Modulus of Elasticity
600 Nylon 12
Stiffness (ksi)

400

200

C.E. Majewski and N. Hopkinson, “Effect of section thickness and build orientation on tensile properties and
material characteristics of Laser Sintered nylon-12 parts”, SFF Symposium Proceedings, Univ. Texas at Austin, 2010,
pp. 422-34.
 Strength

70-100 ksi
316L Stainless Steel
SLM, As Processed

27.5 ksi

J.P. Kruth, et al., “Binding Mechanisms in Selective Laser Sintering and Selective Laser Melting”, SFF Symposium
Proceedings, Univ. Texas at Austin, 2004, pp. 44-58.
 Strength and Ductility

66Co-28Cr-6Mo
EBM, HIP, Homogenized

(ksi) (ksi)

R.S. Keicher, A.M. Christiansen and K.W. Wurth, “Electron Beam Melted (EBM) Co-Cr-Mo Alloy for Orthopaedic
Implant Applications”, SFF Symposium Proceedings, Univ. Texas at Austin, 2009, pp. 428-36.
 Mechanical Behavior
of LS Nylon

LS Bulk*
Yield (MPa) 22.6 57.9
Tensile (MPa) 50.0 61.0
% Elongation 27 350
*CES Edupack Matl Selector, Version 7.0.0, Granta Ltd., 2011

D.K. Leigh, Harvest Technologies, priv. comm., 2011.

 Strength
1.9

1.85
SLM Maraging Steel 18Ni300
Various Layer Thicknesses
1.8 R.M. German, “Powder Metallurgy
and Particulate Materials Processing”,
1.75
MPIF, Princeton NJ, 2005, p. 385.
Log(H)

1.7

1.65

1.6

1.55

1.5
-0.14 -0.12 -0.1 -0.08 -0.06 -0.04 -0.02 0

Log(∆)

E. Yasa, et al., “Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Maraging Steel 300 after Selective Laser Melting”,
SFF Symp., 2010, pp. 383-396
 Strength

Room-Temperature Tensile Strength of Pre-Mixed SLS (90Cu-10Sn) Bronze and

Commercially Pure Nickel Powder as a Function of Relative Density ∆ = 1-ε. (a) As SLS
Processed, (b) SLS Processed and Sintered at 900-1100°C for 1 to 10 hr.

M.K. Agarwala, D.L. Bourell, B. Wu, J.J. Beaman, “An Evaluation of the Mechanical Behavior of Bronze-Ni
Composites Produced by Selective Laser Sintering”, SFF Symposium Proceedings, H.L. Marcus, J.J. Beaman, J.W.
Barlow, D.L. Bourell and R.H. Crawford, eds., Austin TX, 193-203 (1993).
 Mechanical Properties of AM Parts

Ductility
Ductility (ε ≠ 0)
=
(1− ε )
3/ 2

(
Ductility (ε = 0) 1 + Cε 2 )1/ 2

Relative Ductility as a Function of Fractional

Porosity for Pure Iron. Various Particle Sizes and
Purity. [From Haynes, Powder Met., 1977, 20, 17-
20]
 Ductility
0.16

LS Polyamide 12
0.14
C = 4000
0.12

0.1
R. Haynes, “A Study of the Effect of

Elongation
Porosity Content on the Ductility of 0.08
Sintered Metals”, Powder Metallurgy 20
(1977) pp. 17-20. 0.06

0.04

0.02

0
0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5
Relative Porosity ε

D.K. Leigh, D.L. Bourell, J.J. Beaman, “Basis for Decreased Mechanical Properties of Polyamide in Selective Laser
Sintering” Proc. SFF Symposium, Austin TX, 2011.
 SLM Ti-6Al-4V Based on Post-Process
Anneals (Furnace Cooled)

Thöne, M., S. Leuders, A. Riemer, T. Tröster, H.A. Richard, “Influence of heat-treatment on Selective Laser Melting
products – e.g. Ti6Al4V”, Solid Freeform Fabrication Proceedings, (2012), pp. 492-498.
 Fatigue
Fatigue of FDM Processed ABS polymer

Reid, Fatigue of Fused Deposition Modeled (FDM) Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) Stage Three individual
Project MEC 3098, Newcastle University School of Mechanical and Systems Engineering 2011.
 Fatigue
LENS Processed Ti-6Al-4V, Stress Relieved or HIPped

P.A. Kobryn and S.L. Semiatin, “Mechanical Properties of Laser-Deposited Ti-6Al-4V”, SFF Symposium Proceedings,
Univ. Texas at Austin, 2001, pp. 179-186.
 Fracture Toughness
LENS Processed Ti-6Al-4V, Stress Relieved or HIPped

P.A. Kobryn and S.L. Semiatin, “Mechanical Properties of Laser-Deposited Ti-6Al-4V”, SFF Symposium Proceedings,
Univ. Texas at Austin, 2001, pp. 179-186.
 Ceramics AM Processing
Weibull Behavior
𝑚 𝑚
𝜎 1+𝑚 𝑆𝑐
𝑆 = 𝑒𝑒𝑒 − Γ
𝜎�𝑓 𝑚 𝑆𝑠

S = Probability of Survival
σ = Applied Stress
𝜎�𝑓 = Average Fracture Stress
∞
Γ(x) = Gamma Function = ∫0 𝑠 𝑥−1 𝑒 −𝑠 𝑑𝑑 ≅ 0.6
Sc = Effective Surface Area of a Component
Ss = Effective Surface Area of the Test Specimen
m = Weibull Modulus
 Ceramics AM Processing
Weibull Behavior
𝑚 𝑚
𝜎 1+𝑚 𝑆𝑐
𝑆 = 𝑒𝑒𝑒 − Γ
𝜎�𝑓 𝑚 𝑆𝑠

𝑚 𝑚
1 𝜎 1+𝑚 𝑆𝑐
= 𝑒𝑒𝑒 + Γ
𝑆 𝜎�𝑓 𝑚 𝑆𝑠

𝑚 𝑚
1 𝜎 1+𝑚 𝑆𝑐
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝐿𝐿 + Γ
𝑆 𝜎�𝑓 𝑚 𝑆𝑠
1
𝐿𝐿𝐿𝐿 = 𝑚 𝐿𝐿 𝜎 + [ −𝑚 𝐿𝐿 𝜎�𝑓 + 𝐿𝐿 𝐶 ]
𝑆
Weibull Plot and Modulus
 Weibull Plot, Sintered Alumina

Al2O3 powder, 0.4 μm S = 10%

Freeform Extruded
Freeze-dried S = 50%
Sintered at 1,550°C for 2 h

Weibull Modulus = 5
S = 90%

150 MPa 300 MPa

Tieshu Huang, Michael S. Mason, Xiyue Zhao, Gregory E. Hilmas, Ming C. Leu, (2009)
"Aqueous-based freeze-form extrusion fabrication of alumina components", Rapid Prototyping
Journal, Vol. 15 Iss: 2, pp.88 – 95
 Weibull Plot, Sintered FDM Silicon Nitride

Less than 1 micron Si3N4 Vintage 1 – Starting Control

FDM Vintage 2 – After processing quality
Binder Burnout and non-disclosed HT sinter improvements to minimize large porosity

R. Clancy, V. Jamalabad, P. Whalen, P. Bhargava, C. Dai, S. Rangarajan, S. Wu, S. Danforth, N.

Langrana, A. Safari, “Fused Deposition of Ceramics: Progress Towards a Robust and Controlled
Process for Commercialization”, Proc. SFF Symposium, 1997, Austin TX, pp. 185-94.
 Weibull Modulus, LOM Silicon Carbide

Don Klosterman, Richard Chartoff, Nora Osborne, George Graves, “Automated Fabrication of
Monolithic and Ceramic Matrix Composites via Laminated Object Manufacturing (LaM)”,
Proc SFF Symposium, Austin TX, 1997, pp. 537-550.
 Weibull Modulus
EFF Alumino-Silicate/Fused Silica

Qingbin Liu, Ming C. Leu, ,Harish Jose, Von L. Richards, “Study of Ceramic Slurries for
Investment Casting with Ice Patterns”, Proc SFF Symp, Austin TX, 2004, pp. 602-11.
 Materials Forecast
• Materials will be demanded in a quantity to justify
volume production with concomitant reduction in
unit cost for the user. Material cost will drop.
• Lower cost will increase usage, engendering
greater demand,…
• Several “mini-suppliers” or niche product
companies have appeared in the last 5-10 years
and seem to be surviving.
 Materials Perspectives
• Common 3DP materials are generally not patent
protected
• Material cost is high for consumers, but new
suppliers do not seem to be entering the
marketplace
• Perhaps the price will come down as material
usage volume increases due to adoption
• My impression is that there is little consumer
loyalty to a specific brand of material
 Summary of AM Mechanical Behavior

• Mechanical behavior is predictable based on the traditional

understanding of microstructure and processing.
• Porosity and inter-layer interfaces have a strong influence on
the mechanical behavior.
• Anisotropy is not generally an issue if parts are built with low
porosity and good layer interface.
• As processed parts are stronger than conventionally processed
material but have lower elongation and poorer dynamic
properties.
• Polymers produced using best practice have isotropic strength
and anisotropic ductility.
Thank you