ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | MAY/JUNE 2025 56 3D PRINTSHOP A 3D-PRINTED MULTIMATERIAL, COMPLEX STRUCTURE A process called selective powder deposition allows researchers from Penn State to fuse two metals together into a single structure. Using an advanced additive manufacturing process known as multi-material laser powder bed fusion, the researchers printed a complex structure out of a blend of low-carbon stainless steel and bronze, which consists of 90% copper and 10% tin. As described in a paper published in npj Advanced Manufacturing, the team is able to melt multiple powered metals in a single layer during the additive manufacturing process, selectively depositing the powder with micron-level resolution, then melt it together with a laser. “We now have the processing technology to print these multi-material metal parts, as well as a way to monitor the melt pool and observe and address potential issues in real time,” says author Guha Manogharan, associate professor of mechanical engineering. “To do this, we produce a digital 3D rendering of the part through CT scans, which we use to look for pores, cracks at the interface, or micron-scale defects.” In printing two metals in a single powder simultaneously, researchers had to work through complex questions on processing conditions and part quality. In this paper, they focused on analyzing the build orientation of the part to understand what would change if the part was printed upright, flat, or on its side. The finished structure is a complex shape known as a gyroid, which is used in applications such as heat exchangers and biomedical implants. The researchers chose the gyroid shape to demonstrate the capabilities of the new manufacturing process—only multi-material laser powder bed fusion can create a multi-material gyroid shape. dx.doi. org/10.1038/s44334-025-00020-5. HYDROGEL-INFUSED ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING CERAMICS Doctoral student Natalie Yaw, working at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, published her work on hydrogel-infused additive manufacturing (HIAM) in Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers. To address challenges associated with traditional ceramic manufacturing, HIAM separates the printing step from the ceramic material. The process starts with a viscous orange resin, which is used to 3D print an initial gel. That gel is converted into a hydrogel via a few processes, including infusion with a metal salt solution. From there, the hydrogel is heated to burn off organic components and convert the metal salts into metal oxides. Yaw’s study shows that the hydrogel formulation and the type of metal salts both play key roles in determining the ceramic’s quality, density, porosity, and strength. By evaluating the impacts of these precursors, the work provides valuable insights for optimizing ceramic quality and shape, creates a foundation for expanding HIAM to new materials and applications, and addresses a knowledge gap in the HIAM space. dx.doi.org/10.1039/D5QI00139K. A researcher at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) discovered quasicrystals in a 3D-printed aluminum. The aluminum-zirconium alloy, developed by HRL Laboratories and UC Santa Barbara, is stronger, due in part to this unique structure shape. The quasicrystals found in this study form the corners of a 20-sided shape called an icosahedron. “We’ve shown that quasicrystals can make aluminum stronger. Now people might try to create them intentionally in future alloys,” notes NIST physicist Fan Zhang. nist.gov. BRIEF A micro-CT volume rendering of the multi-material gyroid beam, fabricated from low-carbon stainless steel, seen in blue, and bronze, seen in orange. Courtesy of SHAPE Lab, CIMP-3D, and the Penn State Center for Quantitative Imaging. Natalie Yaw created an artistic image for the inside front cover of Inorganic Chemistry Frontiers, where her research was published. Courtesy of Natalie Yaw and Maryline Kerlin.
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