Three-dimensional printing of metallic structures through advanced fused deposition modeling (FDM) of metallic fillers-reinforced polymer granules

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Metallic structures fabricated by 3D printing may find widespread applications in medical, microwave andMEMS fields. Commonly-used metal 3D printing techniques such as selective laser sintering is limited by theirhigh processing temperatures, high cost and relatively slow processing time. The popular fused depositionmodeling (FDM) technique, which mainly utilizes thermoplastics as feedstock materials, is also of greatinterest to be adapted for metals. Dyze Design, a company located in Montreal that is actively working in thearea of fabricating high speed, economized accessories for FDM 3D printers has expressed its great interest forcollaboration with LM2 for the development of new materials compatible with the FDM technique. During asix-month project, a postdoctoral fellow (PDF) will work in close collaboration with the company toinvestigate the possibility of adapting metallic micro-particles to the FDM technique for the fabrication ofhighly dense metallic structures in a fast and low-cost process. The specific objectives will be to (1) fabricategranules of various metallic particles mixed with a polymer binder using the solvent-cast printing methodwhich LM2 has a lot of experience, (2) test the compatibility of the developed materials with a FDM print headdesigned by the company, (3) compare performance of the different mixtures in terms of their rheologicalbehavior, fillers concentrations, and mechanical properties (e.g., tension) of the final sintered part, and (4)provide utilization guidelines to the industrial partner and test the materials at the industrial scale. Duringbi-monthly meetings between the company and the LM2, the progress of the project will be discussed. Theoutcomes of this project will certainly contribute to the development of a new product by Dyze Design and helpthe company to enter the market of metallic 3D printing. This project will also help the two collaborators todefine more innovative research projects in the future.