Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Aug 12, 2022 Tucked away in the sub-basement of Pitt's Benedum Hall, past the...
It's a state-of-the-art 3D printer for metal - the first Gefertec arc605 at any university in the U.S. For producing big, specialized metal parts, the machine is unbeatable, said Albert To, William Kepler Whiteford Professor in the Swanson School of Engineering and an expert on 3D printing.
The printer makes use of welding, melting wire made from metals like stainless steel, titanium and aluminum alloys and depositing it layer by layer.
Previous metal 3D printers in the lab using lasers and metal powder could lay down a few hundred grams an hour; this one is an order of magnitude faster.
The machine's advanced software and "Five-axis" capabilities where pieces can be rotated and tilted during printing means it can be used to create complex metal parts.
Metals warp as they heat and cool, a process that To is using the new printer to study with funding from the U.S. Army and the Department of Energy.
Xavier Jimenez, a PhD student in the Swanson School of Engineering, prepares to operate the Gefertec arc605, a 3D printer for metal.
Jimenez operates the Gefertec printer using a computer terminal built into the machine.
When printing with titanium, researchers pump argon gas into the printer to ensure that the metal doesn't chemically react with the air.
Jimenez came to Pitt in part because he wanted to work with the Gefertec arc605, but COVID-19 threw a wrench in the gears, and the printer took three years to make its way to Pitt.
With the help of a German-speaking professor, the team made it through the installation, and are now in the process of testing parameters for the 3D printing of different metals.