SBIR Phase I: Commercialization of a Novel Titanium Alloy Additive Manufacturing Process

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是基于推动已经具有创新性的添加剂制造(AM)行业的创新。这项提议代表了AM流程在十年内的潜在收入高达1.2亿美元，该流程将比竞争流程便宜几个数量级。就社会影响而言，加法制造代表着制造业的范式转变，也是将制造业和就业机会带回这个国家的重要机会。因此，附加制造机会对美国和世界的经济和环境影响是令人难以置信的巨大的。本地制造业对经济和环境都有影响。选择性禁止的烧结技术可能代表着对这一新兴技术领域的进一步改进，特别是对于无法负担得起使用极其昂贵的竞争设备的中小型公司。该项目将实施一种颠覆性的添加剂制造技术。选择性抑制烧结过程背后的核心概念是防止每个粉末层的选定部分烧结。在当前的金属工艺中，利用商用压电打印头在每一层的部分边界沉积液体缓蚀剂溶液。一旦所有的层都完成了，整个零件就从机器上移出，并在传统的烧结炉中进行批量烧结。部分边界处的缓蚀剂分解成硬颗粒，阻碍了烧结过程。该区域中的金属粉末颗粒被阻止熔化，从而允许去除被禁止的边界部分并露出完成的部分。该项目的成功完成可能会导致用于难以制造的工业部件的金属AM的未来模式发生转变。目标材料是在许多行业中广泛使用的高温金属合金，如铁、钢或钛。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is based in furthering the innovation in an already innovative additive manufacturing (AM) industry. This proposal represents up to $120M in potential revenue within a ten year period in an AM process that will be orders of magnitude cheaper than competitive processes. With regards to a societal impact, additive manufacturing represents a paradigm shift in manufacturing and a significant opportunity to bring manufacturing and jobs back into this country. The economic and environmental implications of the additive manufacturing opportunity are thus incredibly vast for America and for the world. Local manufacturing has implications for both the economy and the environment. The Selectively Inhibited Sintering technology potentially represents a further refinement in accessibility to this burgeoning technological field, especially for small to medium sized companies that cannot afford the use of incredibly expensive competitive equipment.This project will implement a disruptive additive manufacturing technology. The core concept behind the Selectively Inhibited Sintering process is the prevention of selected segments of each powder layer from sintering. In the current metal process, a commercial piezoelectric print head is utilized to deposit a liquid inhibitor solution at the part boundary of each layer. Once all of the layers have been completed, the entire part is removed from the machine and bulk sintered in a conventional sintering furnace. The inhibitor at the part boundary decomposes into hard particles that retard the sintering process. The metal powder particles in this region are prevented from fusing, allowing for removal of inhibited boundary sections and revealing of the completed part. Successful completion of this project will potentially result in a paradigm shift in the future of metallic AM for hard-to-manufacture industrial parts. Targeted materials are high temperature metallic alloys such as iron, steel, or titanium which are widely used in many industries.