The latest news about Digital Metal

Digital Metal® adds DM 4140, low-alloy steel powder, to its binder jetting printing system, creating new opportunities and greater design freedom for components exposed to high loads.

Low-alloy steel components, manufactured with Metal Injection Molding (MIM), have been used in general engineering and automotive manufacturing since the early 1980s. Its strength, toughness, and resistance to deformation during quenching has made DM 4140 a popular grade.

In collaboration with Hyundai Motors, Digital Metal developed and certified DM 4140, low-alloy steel powder, in order to manufacture gearbox Control Fingers using binder jetting. By adding carbon-steel to their metal binder jetting technology, Digital Metal® has expanded their offer of tool-less design freedom, short lead times, and potential weight savings. DM 4140 is ideal for components in automotive, consumer goods, and industrial applications, which are exposed to high loads.

The material is printed with an ink that is commonly used for other steel and nickel-based alloys, although the process has been modified and optimized to reach properties that are consistent with MIM standards (ISO22068). By alternatively applying quenching and subsequent tempering treatment in an as-sintered state, tensile properties may be tuned toward application requirements.

Common applications
DM 4140 is an ideal grade for components exposed to high loads, such as gear wheels, connecting rods, fasteners, couplings, gears, belt pulleys and shafts.

Control Finger for automotive gear boxes, binder jetting printed with DM 4140, in green state.

DM 4140 supplements a wide range of materials
DM 4140 is the latest addition to our binder jetting system. Other materials in the range include: pure copper DM Cu, 316L and 17-4PH stainless steel, DM D2 tool steel, the superalloys DM 625 (equivalent to Inconel 625), DM 718 (equivalent to Inconel 718) and DM 247 (equivalent to MAR M247), and Titanium Ti6Al4V.
With a minor adjustment to curing conditions, DM 4140 is also available as a turnkey solution for customers who already have Digital Metal® systems processing other steels and superalloys.

About Digital Metal®
Digital Metal® is the world’s first company to commercialize industrial high-precision 3D metal printers for the mass production of components with advanced geometries.

Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of highly complex objects with superior surface finish and repeatable accuracy, which is not possible with competing technologies. In addition to developing, manufacturing and selling printers, we also offer small-volume or mass-production printing services. Many of the world’s leading Aerospace, Automotive, Industrial, MedTech, Energy, Luxury and Academic companies are numbered among our customers. Millions of parts have been produced, a substantial quantity of them in mass production at our plant in Sweden

Digital Metal® was founded in 2003, and is headquartered in Southern Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group (founded in 1797), the world’s largest metal powder producer. Read more at www.digitalmetal.tech or www.linkedin.com/company/digital-metal.

Digital Metal^® continues to add new materials to its binder jetting system, including our latest superalloy: DM 718, an alloy designed to withstand extreme temperatures and corrosive environments, while exhibiting excellent weldability.

DM 718 is equivalent to UNS N07718, more widely known as Inconel^® alloy 718, an alloy commonly used in applications that require high strength and corrosion resistance at extreme temperatures. Typical applications include: gas turbines, jet engines, rocket engines, turbo pumps, and pressure tanks.

Superb characteristics
DM 718 is a nickel-chromium-based precipitation-hardening superalloy. It offers high strength, as well as creep and corrosion resistance, in cryogenic and elevated temperatures, up to about 650°C. Versatile and high-performing, this alloy composition is the most used nickel-chromium superalloy in metal additive manufacturing, in addition to being one of the most commonly used superalloys, overall.

The material properties of DM 718 are quite satisfactory in the as-sintered state; however, post-sintering heat treatments are required to take full advantage of its composition. The alloy can be strengthened using industry-standard treatments, consisting of solution annealing and quenching, followed by aging steps.

Welding behaviour stands out
Compared with some other superalloys that have similar high-temperature strength characteristics, a key benefit of alloy 718 is its welding behaviour – particularly its resistance to post-weld cracking.

The alloy has a slow response to age-hardening  and is primarily strengthened by gamma double prime (γ’’) precipitates. This combination offers improved weldability over high gamma prime (γ’) alloys, such as DM 247. However, the γ’’ phase begins to dissolve at temperatures above 650°C, the material then loses some of its strength. Meanwhile, the γ’ phase remains stable and continue to provide strength to slightly higher temperatures. Though in general, alloys with high levels of γ’ cannot be welded.

Available applications
In Q4, 2021, Digital Metal will begin offering print services for DM 718 components in the as-sintered state, as well as collaborating with external partners to offer components in various other heat-treated states. This alloy is also available as a turnkey solution (including consumables and process parameters), for customers who are already using Digital Metal’s systems to process other steels and superalloys.

An expanding material portfolio
DM 718 and DM 4140 are the latest additions to the company’s binder jetting system. Other materials in the range are pure copper DM Cu, stainless steel 316L and 17-4PH, tool steel DM D2, superalloys DM 625 (equivalent to Inconel 625) and DM 247 (equivalent to MAR M247), and Titanium Ti6Al4V.

About Digital Metal^®
Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize industrial high-precision 3D metal printers for the mass production of components with advanced geometries.

Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of highly complex objects with superior surface finish and repeatable accuracy, which is not possible with competing technologies. In addition to developing, manufacturing and selling printers, we also offer small-volume or mass-production printing services. Many of the world’s leading Aerospace, Automotive, Industrial, MedTech, Energy, Luxury and Academic companies are numbered among our customers. Millions of parts have been produced, a substantial quantity of them in mass production at our plant in Sweden

Digital Metal^® was founded in 2003, and is headquartered in Southern Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group (founded in 1797), the world’s largest metal powder producer. Read more at www.digitalmetal.tech or www.linkedin.com/company/digital-metal.

Digital Metal has launched the DMS-LNX 1.0 Control Panel Interface, taking the next step toward fully-automated, No-Hands Production, capable of providing an immediate, comprehensive overview of the printing process.

DMS-LNX 1.0 was co-developed with automation partner Siemens, based on their MindSphere IoT platform. The system provides a complete overview of ongoing printing processes, with the ability to review specific details and receive alerts and prompts.

This new technology will be showcased at Formnext, where it will be possible for participants remotely to view our printers in action, in Sweden, from the Digital Metal stand and/or from the Siemens stand.

Digital Metal is a pioneer in industrializing Metal Binder Jetting
“Producing millions of parts in-house has taught us a lot about this process,” says Christian Lönne, CEO of Digital Metal.  “It became clear to us early on that successfully industrializing metal binder jetting is not just about the printer, but also about automating all the process steps”.

“This will enable us to deliver a truly digital manufacturing experience,” continues CTO Hans Kimblad. “The launch of DMS-LNX 1.0 provides an excellent base for implementing a digital thread through the entire manufacturing process.”

New machines for No-Hands Production
As a total system supplier with enhanced process-line automation, Digital Metal has realized the full potential of metal binder jetting as an established technology for industrialization and serial production. With the recent launches of two new process line machines, DPS 1000 for automatic de-powdering, and PPS 1000 for closed-powder handling, Digital Metal took a big step toward No Hands Production. Both machines will be showcased at Formnext.

Reliable manufacturing, based on experience
Digital Metal Binder Jetting is based on the company’s own serial production experience, and closed loop manufacturing will deliver a robust, reliable, completely digital solution for a variety of industries and markets.

About Digital Metal
Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize industrial high-precision 3D metal printers for the mass production of components with advanced geometries.

Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of highly complex objects with superior surface finish and repeatable accuracy, which is not possible with competing technologies. In addition to developing, manufacturing and selling printers, we also offer small-volume or mass-production printing services. Many of the world’s leading Aerospace, Automotive, Industrial, MedTech, Energy, Luxury and Academic companies are numbered among our customers. Millions of parts have been produced, a substantial quantity of them in mass production at our plant in Sweden.

Digital Metal was founded in 2003, and is headquartered in Southern Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group, the world’s largest metal powder producer. For continued updates and digital improvements to the Digital Metal Manufacturing journey, follow Digital Metal at linkedin or subscribe to the newsletter.

When transitioning from traditional manufacturing into Additive Manufacturing it is important to optimize and adopt to the AM process in use. Digital Metal^® and Etteplan join forces to offer the best guidance to existing and new customers to make this transition as efficient as possible

Etteplan, a global engineering company and Digital Metal, a global leader in developing and manufacturing of high-precision metal binder jetting systems for industrial use, have agreed to enter a strategic partnership in additive manufacturing.

The partnership aims to offer design optimization solutions for Digital Metal binder jetting processes and to offer manufacturing companies the full benefit of the technology – from idea to complete component with volume production in mind.

“Together with Etteplan we will be able to offer a stronger value proposition, covering a complete design and manufacturing process, to our customers. The partnership gives us access to a world-class design team that complements our business very well”, says Christian Lönne, CEO at Digital Metal.

Christian Lönne, CEO, Digital Metal; Riku Riikonen, SVP, Engineering Solutions, Etteplan; Tero Hämeenaho, Department Manager, AMO, Etteplan

With Additive Manufacturing and Binder Jetting comes the opportunity to think outside the box when it comes to designing products and components. By combining Digital Metal’s expertise in Binder Jetting with Etteplan’s extensive knowledge in design of components for additive manufacturing the goal is to accelerate the transition from traditional manufacturing to additive manufacturing.

“Etteplan has invested heavily in additive manufacturing and has been involved in groundbreaking engineering already for a long time. We look forward to exploring and create synergies together with Digital Metal. The partnership will strengthen both Etteplan’s as well as Digital Metal’s offerings towards existing and future customers”, says Riku Riikonen, SVP, Engineering Solutions, Etteplan.

For more information, please contact:

Tero Hämeenaho, Department Manager, AMO, Etteplan, tel. +358 10 307 2757

Outi Torniainen, SVP, Marketing & Communications, Etteplan, tel. +358 10 307 3302

Christian Lönne, CEO, Digital Metal, tel. +46 737480817

Digital Metal in brief

Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize state-of-the-art 3D metal printers for production of components with advanced geometries. Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of complex objects with superior surface finish, which is not possible with competing technologies.

The company also offers printing services of metal components. Among the customers are many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Fraunhofer, Honeywell, MTC (The Manufacturing Technology Centre, UK), Koenigsegg, Bosch, Duerr Dental, CETIM (the French Technology Center for Mechanical Industries), Siemens and Volvo to mention a few. Millions of parts have been produced, where of a substantial amount in serial production at the production plant in Sweden.

Digital Metal was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group (founded in 1797), the world’s largest producer of metal powders.

Etteplan in brief

Etteplan provides solutions for software and embedded solutions, solutions for industrial equipment and plant engineering and technical documentation solutions to the world’s leading companies in the manufacturing industry. Our services are geared to improve the competitiveness of our customers’ products, services and engineering processes throughout the product life cycle. The results of Etteplan’s innovative engineering can be seen in numerous industrial solutions and everyday products.

When going into mass production of printed components, automation is key. Digital Metal^® is continually evolving the automation of binder jetting processes—and is proud to announce that a renowned German Research Institute recently invested in DPS 1000, the world’s first commercial automated depowdering station for metal binder jetting, together with a complete printing system.

Digital Metal^®, a global leader in high-precision metal binder jetting systems for industrial use, can now add automated depowdering of metal binder jetted components to their offer. “A key benefit of the DPS 1000 for Digital Metal customers is that it will free up time, and also bring consistency by removing the human factor from the equation,” says Alexander Sakratidis, Sales and Marketing Manager at Digital Metal.

One of the first customers for the DPS 1000 is a renowned German Research Institute. One of the institute’s missions is to industrialize additive manufacturing technologies to create resource-efficient products for the future.

“Metal Binder Jetting will enhance productivity and precision while at the same time reducing costs of metal additive manufacturing, which opens the door for series production,” says the Head of Process Department at the institute. “However, one major technical challenge is depowdering of the green parts and there is a huge potential in working on automation solutions in this context.”

Parts depowdered in DPS 1000

Parts depowdered in DPS 1000

The customer believes that automated depowdering will be key to industrialization of AM. “To date manual depowdering and cleaning have taken up most of the work hours in the binder jetting process. Automating this step makes the whole AM process cost efficient while ensuring more consistent part quality.”

The institute has been impressed with the DPS 1000’s ability to precisely remove metal powder from most geometries of any parts. The added manual cleaning option makes it possible to clean even tricky geometries after the initial program has removed most of the powder. They are also pleased with the whole Digital Metal printing system, and how well it fits with their mission to industrialize the additive manufacturing of metals.

“With this system we can easily test multiply different powders to enhance the print quality and make more precise predictions on the shrinking of the sintering process,” says the customer. “It convinces with its precision, and even very delicate structures can be printed.”

To learn more about the DPS 1000 and Digital Metal binder jetting printing systems go to https://digitalmetal.tech/news-and-media/virtual-events/, scroll 3 min into the video to see the automated sequence.

Or

Go directly to YouTube

About Digital Metal

Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize state-of-the-art 3D metal printers for the production of components with advanced geometries. Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of complex objects with superior surface finish and accuracy, which is not possible with competing technologies.

The company also offers printing services of metal components. Among the customers are many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Fraunhofer, Honeywell, MTC (The Manufacturing Technology Centre, UK), Koenigsegg, Bosch, Duerr Dental, CETIM (the French Technology Center for Mechanical Industries), Siemens and Volvo to mention a few. Millions of parts have been produced, where of a substantial amount in serial production at the production plant in Sweden.

Digital Metal was founded in 2003 and has its headquarters in Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group, the world’s largest producer of metal powders.

For more information on Digital Metal visit digitalmetal.tech

Digital Metal^® now adds pure copper to its extensive material offering for metal binder jetting. Freedom of design coupled with the thermal and conductive properties of pure copper open new possibilities within many industries.

Digital Metal^®, a global leader in high-precision metal binder jetting systems for industrial use now adds pure copper, DM Cu, to their extensive material offering. The excellent thermal and electrical conductivity properties of pure copper make it ideal for a wide range of applications. Good conductivity, or heat transfer, is for example a requirement in electronics, heat exchangers, heat sinks and engine parts. 3D printing of components in copper also offers unprecedented freedom, enabling design for optimal functionality with very few restrictions. In addition, copper is known for its antibacterial properties.

A key benefit for Digital Metal’s customers is that printing with 99.9% pure copper brings out the best of the material compared to copper alloys commonly used in laser-based systems.

“Printing with pure copper using Digital Metal’s binder jetting technology is one of the most anticipated material launches ever, and totally new within binder jetting. Copper has been high up on our customers’ wish list and timing is perfect with the demand for copper applications soaring in fast growth areas such as e-mobility and heat conductivity. We have been developing the process for some time internally, but I would really like to emphasize the value of the excellent cooperation with key customers in our fast-growing Digital Metal User Group. It has been a great help and we are now very pleased to deliver a high-quality copper process for Digital Metal binder jetting”, said Christian Lönne, CEO at Digital Metal.

Pure Copper, DM Cu, is the latest addition to Digital Metal’s binder jetting system. Other materials in the range are stainless steel 316L and 17-4PH, tool steel DM D2, super alloys DM 625 (equivalent to Inconel 625) and DM 247 (equivalent to MAR M247) and Titanium Ti6Al4V. Digital Metal is constantly working on expanding the material offers in close cooperation with its parent company Höganäs AB, the world’s largest metal powder manufacturer.

Download material data sheet

For more information, please contact christian.lonne@digitalmetal.tech

About Digital Metal
Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize state-of-the-art 3D metal printers for the production of small components with advanced geometries. Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of complex objects with superior surface finish, which is not possible with competing technologies.

The company also offers printing services of metal components. Among the customers are many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Fraunhofer, Honeywell, MTC (The Manufacturing Technology Centre, UK), Koenigsegg, Bosch, Duerr Dental, CETIM (the French Technology Center for Mechanical Industries) and Volvo to mention a few. Close to 1,000,000 components have been produced, and more than 30 different geometries are in serial production at the production plant in Sweden.

Digital Metal was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group, the world’s largest producer of metal powders.

​​Examples of pure copper applications (PDF)

As the interest in 3D metal printing using the binder jetting technology keeps rising, Digital Metal continues to introduce innovative materials that expand its already impressive offering. The latest addition to the company’s portfolio is DM D2™, a tool steel alloy that provides an effective combination of abrasive wear resistance and toughness. DM D2 is suitable for a wide range of applications, but most commonly for cutting and deformation tools.

When tool makers specify a steel for their equipment, they often choose D2 as it is hard enough to suit the task of stamping and forming other metals without losing its shape. Digital Metal’s new DM D2 is a versatile high-carbon, high-chromium D2 tool steel alloy that can be heat treated to high hardness and compressive strength. It offers high wear resistance and is suitable in cold work applications that require sharp edges and abrasion resistance.

“We have been receiving more and more requests for a D2 tool steel suitable for use with our printers. We have designed the DM D2 to deliver excellent surface finish, flexibility, as well as strength and hardness”, says Christian Lönne, CEO at Digital Metal. “This alloy is very stable during heat treatments, which allows for tailoring of the final material properties through various heat treatments after sintering.”

For more information, please contact christian.lonne@digitalmetal.tech

About Digital Metal
Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize state-of-the-art 3D metal printers for the production of small components with advanced geometries. Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of complex objects with superior surface finish, which is not possible with competing technologies.

The company also offers printing services of metal components. Among the customers are many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Honeywell, MTC (The Manufacturing Technology Centre, UK), Koenigsegg, Bosch, Montfort Watches, CETIM (the French Technology Center for Mechanical Industries) and Volvo to mention a few. Close to 1,000,000 components have been produced, and more than 30 different geometries are in serial production at the production plant in Sweden.

Digital Metal was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in Sweden. The company is part of the Höganäs Group, the world’s largest producer of metal powders. Read more at digitalmetal.tech

Digital Metal has launched a new software upgrade that triples the printing speed of its DM P2500 printer. This allows for significantly larger production volume per time unit while keeping the renowned high component quality.

Digital Metal’s DM P2500 metal binder jetting printer is a robust machine where no efforts have been spared to make it as accurate as possible. As an example, all moving parts in the DM P2500 have an accuracy down to single microns, which vouches for excellent repeatability in serial production. In addition, a 160 mm thick custom-made diabase stone is used to bring stability and ensure that no vibrations affect the printing process.

The reliability and repeatability in combination with high productivity makes the DM P2500 ideal for serial production of small complex metal components. With fine surface quality and resolution and the fact that no supports are needed when printing, keeps waste and time spent on post processing at a minimum.

Now, the printer has been upgraded with new software that triples its printing speed. This allows to produce significantly larger component volumes per time unit while keeping excellent component quality. The new software is standard on all new units and upgrade kits are available for installed printers.

“We constantly work to improve the performance of our printers so that our customers can work as cost-effectively as possible”, says Alexander Sakratidis, Sales & Marketing manager at Digital Metal. “This important upgrade makes it possible to reach even greater production volumes without sacrificing component quality. We plan to continue introducing similar significant upgrades twice a year.”

For more information, please contact alexander.sakratidis@digitalmetal.tech

About Digital Metal
Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize state-of-the-art 3D metal printers for the production of small components with advanced geometries. Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of complex objects with superior surface finish, which is not possible with competing technologies.
The company also offers printing services of metal components. Among the customers are many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Honeywell, MTC (The Manufacturing Technical Centre, UK), Koenigsegg, Bosch, Montfort Watches, CETIM (the French Technical Center for Mechanical Industries) and Volvo to mention a few. More than 500,000 components have been produced, and more than 30 different geometries are in serial production at the production plant in Sweden.
Digital Metal was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in Höganäs. The company is part of the Höganäs Group, the world’s largest producer of metal powders. Read more at digitalmetal.tech

Due to rising demand for 3D-printable superalloy materials from companies in the aerospace, automotive and industrial segments, Digital Metal® now launches two superalloy grades for use in extreme environments. The grades are named DM 247 and DM 625.

The unique properties of Digital Metal’s binder jetting technology make it highly suitable for printing superalloys, including non-weldable grades, with near full density.

Superalloys are metal materials that exhibit great strength and corrosion resistance even when subjected to high heat and stress. These properties make them especially suitable for use in challenging applications such as aerospace, automotive and chemical. However, so far it has been difficult to use non-weldable materials such as MAR M247 in 3D printing, where high solidification rates and thermal gradients are inherent.

Digital Metal’s unique binder jetting technology helps avoid most of these problems by printing in an ambient temperature without applying any heat, followed by a separate sintering step. During sintering densification takes place without melting and with minimal thermal gradients during cooling from sintering temperature.

To cover the rising demand for 3D-printable superalloys, Digital Metal now launches two own superalloy grades – DM 247 and DM 625. Both have undergone extensive inhouse testing to ensure they meet our customers’ expectations.

The DM 247 is based on the non-weldable MAR M247, which is widely used as material for turbine blades and in other applications with elevated temperatures. The DM 625 is an Inconel 625-grade. Its application areas range from seawater applications and chemical processing equipment, to nuclear industry and aerospace.

“We have been receiving qualified requests for these materials from various large companies”, says Ralf Carlström, General Manager at Digital Metal. “Many producers within the aerospace and automotive business have long been anticipating high-quality superalloys that are suitable for 3D printing. Now we can offer them the perfect combination – our unique binder jetting technology and superalloys that are specially developed for our printers.”

For more information, please contact us at info@digitalmetal.tech

About Digital Metal

Digital Metal is the world’s first company to commercialize high-precision 3D metal printers for serial production of small, high-volume components. Digital Metal’s proprietary binder jetting technology enables the production of high-quality complex objects with superior surface finish, which is not possible with competing technologies.
The company also offers manufacturing of metal components. Among the customers are many of the world’s leading technology companies such as Honeywell, Koenigsegg, Volvo, CETIM (the French Technical Center for Mechanical Industries), MTC (Manufacturing Technology Centre), Mectron, and Montfort Watches. More than 400,000 components have been produced.
Digital Metal was founded in 2012 and has its headquarters in Höganäs. The company is part of the Höganäs Group, the world’s largest producer of metal powders. Read more at digitalmetal.tech.