NanoSteel Demonstrates New Additive Manufactured Wear Materials

The NanoSteel Company, a provider of nanostructured steel materials design, has expanded the company’s engineered powered business into additive manufacturing. By using its uniform metal matrix microstructures in the laser sintering process, NanoSteel has created a crack-free, fully dense bulk sample, the company states.

NanoSteel’s growth in additive manufacturing supports the need for on-demand, on-site wear parts while addressing the current challenges in 3D printing of high-hardness parts. It worked to optimize the processing of a NanoSteel alloy with a high volume fraction of borocarbide phases. This produced a dense (99.9%), crack-free part with hardness values of over 1000 HV, wear resistance and a uniform microstructure.

“Currently, the material options to produce highly wear-resistant parts through additive manufacturing are limited” said Harald Lemke, NanoSteel’s general manager of Engineered Powders. “By extending the reach of steel into markets currently served by WC-Co, ceramics, and other non-ferrous metal matrix metal composites, NanoSteel has the potential to generate cost-efficient wear parts to serve the tooling, mining, energy, and transportation industries in applications such as pumps, bearings, and cutting tools.”

For more information, visit NanoSteel.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.