Composite Carbide Powder for Additive Laser Sintering
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Solution Overview
Problem
The industries of knives, molds, and workpieces face challenges in enhancing the hardness, abrasion resistance, and temperature resistance, which affect the lifespan and quality of products, particularly in processing complex shapes, where conventional manufacturing processes are inefficient and material usage is high.
Innovation Solution
A composite powder comprising 80-97 wt % carbide and 3-20 wt % blending metal powder, primarily cobalt with additional metals like aluminum, titanium, or nickel, is used in an additive laser sintering process, reducing the need for multiple sintering stages and minimizing material usage while achieving high compactness and wettability.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional two-stage sintering process is used, then carbide workpieces can be manufactured, but the processing of complex shapes is difficult and material usage is high
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the sintering process and removing process into a single additive laser sintering process. The composite powder formulation (80-97 wt% carbide, 3-20 wt% blending metal) enables direct sintering of complex shapes without requiring separate machining removal steps, thus merging multiple process stages into one and eliminating the complexity of coordinating multiple processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces conventional mechanical sintering and removing processes with additive laser sintering technology. The laser beam directly sinters the composite powder layer by layer to form complex three-dimensional workpieces, substituting mechanical pressing and subsequent machining with a more efficient thermal field-based additive process.
2Loss of substance
If conventional sintering process is used, then carbide components can be produced, but material usage is high and near-net-shape capability is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent formulates composite powder with optimized composition (80-97 wt% carbide, 3-20 wt% blending metal containing cobalt and other metals) before sintering. This preliminary preparation of the powder mixture enables the additive laser sintering process to directly create near-net-shaped workpieces with minimal material waste, as the powder is deposited only where needed rather than starting from bulk material that requires removal.
3Strength
If carbide workpieces with improved hardness are required, then abrasion resistance and temperature resistance improve, but processing complex shapes becomes more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses composite powder consisting of carbide particles (providing hardness, abrasion resistance, and temperature resistance) combined with blending metal powder (3-20 wt%, primarily cobalt with other metals). This composite formulation maintains the desirable mechanical properties of carbide while enabling the additive laser sintering process to manufacture complex shapes that would be difficult to produce using conventional carbide processing methods.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The additive laser sintering process results in near-net-shaped workpieces with improved hardness and reduced material usage, effectively addressing the challenges of processing complex shapes and enhancing the performance of knives, molds, and workpieces.
Implementation Method 1
A laser sintering process is performed on the composite powder to form a workpiece
Implementation Method 2
The additive laser sintering process results in near-net-shaped workpieces
Implementation Method 3
achieving high compactness and wettability
Data Source
AI summary
A composite powder is provided. The composite powder comprises 80-97 wt % of carbide and 3-20 wt % of blending metal powder comprising cobalt and a first metal powder, wherein the first metal powder is formed of one of aluminum, titanium, iron, nickel, or a combination thereof, and the amount of cobalt is 90-99% of total blending metal powder.