AluWireLMP | Development of wire-based additive manufacturing using liquid metal printing for aluminum alloys

What is Liquid Metal Printing?

Liquid metal printing (LMP) is still a young but promising additive manufacturing technology. The unique feature of the process is that the material is supplied in wire form and is applied drop by drop in a micro-casting process.

The liquid metal printing process belongs to the group of metal-based additive manufacturing processes in which components are built up layer by layer through repetitive material application. Unlike most welding-based processes, liquid metal printing does not require a beam source to melt the material, as the material is melted and applied drop by drop. The components are built up by using the material in the build direction in conjunction with a high-precision moving cross table.

Advantages of Liquid Metal Printing

LMP enables near-net-shape production with droplet diameters between 500 and 750 micrometres and up to 400 cm³/h deposition rates. The main advantages of the process can be summarized as follows:

• short production times and high application rates,
• low thermal stresses during production,
• lower raw material costs (wire-based) than with powder- and laser-based processes.

By processing aluminum alloys in additive manufacturing, the LMP can unleash crucial innovation potential for companies from various industries (for example, aerospace, mobility, energy sector).