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

3D打印制造的金属结构在医疗、微波、mems等领域有着广泛的应用前景。常用的金属3D打印技术，如选择性激光烧结，受到加工温度高、成本高和加工时间相对较慢的限制。流行的熔融沉积建模（FDM）技术，主要利用热塑性塑料作为原料，也非常有兴趣适用于金属。位于蒙特利尔的Dyze Design公司正积极致力于FDM 3D打印机的高速、经济型配件制造领域，该公司表示非常有兴趣与LM2合作开发与FDM技术兼容的新材料。在为期六个月的项目中，一名博士后将与该公司密切合作，研究将金属微粒应用于FDM技术的可能性，以快速、低成本的方式制造高密度金属结构。具体目标将是：(1)使用LM2具有丰富经验的溶剂铸造打印方法，用聚合物粘合剂混合制造各种金属颗粒，(2)测试所开发材料与公司设计的FDM打印头的兼容性，(3)比较不同混合物的流变行为，填料浓度和最终烧结部分的机械性能（例如张力）。(4)为工业合作伙伴提供利用指南，并在工业规模上对材料进行测试。在公司和LM2之间的双月会议上，将讨论项目的进展情况。该项目的成果将有助于Dyze Design开发新产品，并帮助公司进入金属3D打印市场。这个项目也将帮助两位合作者在未来确定更多的创新研究项目。

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.