Thursday, July 11, 2019
Diamond as a new 3D printing material?
Swedish metal powder company Sandvik recently unveiled what it claims to be the first ever 3D printed composite diamond. A feat that could be of interest to many industries, as diamond is one of the hardest materials in its natural state. Only lonsdaleite, a very rare mineral discovered in 2013 by Chinese researchers, is said to be harder.
Produced in its synthetic form since 1953, diamond is used in the manufacture of many tools used in certain operations, such as machining, drilling or the manufacture of medical implants. However, it is very difficult to machine. Its use is therefore limited to fairly simple geometries. Additive manufacturing could therefore make it possible to create much more complex shapes, which is almost impossible with the production of synthetic diamond.
The first attempt at this was made by the Finnish manufacturer Carbodeon. A year ago, the company surprised everyone by marketing a composite PLA filament reinforced with diamond nanoparticles. The presence of these nanoparticles would allow for greater manufacturing speed as well as better mechanical and wear resistance than a conventional PLA.
Source : Primante3D