Structure and mechanical properties of Fe-10Cu alloy obtained by material extrusion-based additive manufacturing method with bimodal powder

Abstract

The present study has investigated the microstructure and mechanical characteristics of samples prepared from Fe – 10wt% Cu powder using powder injection molding (PIM) and material extrusion-based additive manufacturing (MEAM) technologies. Bimodal nano-micro powder obtained by the electric explosion of a wire (EEW) technology was used as raw material. The bimodal powder is formed directly during the explosion and does not require a mixing step. This article compares the structure and mechanical properties of samples depending on the manufacturing technology, the debinding time, the sintering temperature, and the gaseous medium in which the sintering is performed. The feedstock for both PIM and MEAM was obtained with a powder content of 93wt% (or 65vol.%). Transmission electron microscopy was used to investigate the structure of copper nano-precipitates. The results show that the most effective way to control the properties of the obtained samples is to change the sintering parameters. All investigated parameters (debinding time, sintering temperature and sintering environment) determines the structure and properties of the material. By changing these parameters, it is possible to achieve the same values of porosity and strength for both PIM and MEAM samples.