3D printer using copper

Introducing 3D Printed Copper

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Our team is extremely excited to introduce our newest material for the Metal X — Copper. For the first time ever, it’s now incredibly simple to 3D print pure copper. With the Markforged Metal X system, you can now easily manufacture complex parts with high electrical and thermal conductivity that were previously expensive, time-consuming, or impossible to make. Copper joins the already available Metal X materials — 17-4PH Stainless Steel, Inconel 625, h23 Tool Steel, D2 Tool Steel, and A2 Tool Steel.

What is Markforged Copper?

Markforged Copper is greater than 99.8% pure copper with excellent thermal and electrical conductivity and high ductility. Markforged Copper can be used where thermal or electrical conductivity is required — and traditional manufacturing processes are too expensive or fall short. Alternatively, customers who work with aluminum over copper because of its processing challenges can now take advantage of easily 3D printing a copper part, and benefit from the material’s higher thermal and electrical conductivity.

Copper is our first metal material that is valued for thermal and electrical properties, marking an exciting time at Markforged. Check out our data sheet to get a more in-depth look at the electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties.

Copper on the Metal X System

There are several reasons why we’re excited about the addition of Markforged Copper:

• One platform.

Printing with Markforged Copper involves the same simple process Markforged customers are used to with our existing metal materials on the Metal X System. No hardware changes are needed to start printing copper. Markforged customers order a spool, choose ‘Copper’ in the material drop-down menu in our cloud-based slicing software Eiger, and begin printing right away. Switching materials on the Metal X takes about 10 minutes. With the addition of Markforged Copper, we are excited that customers can now make electrical and heat transfer components on the same printer as our stainless steel, nickel super alloy, and tool steels. In our labs, we are working on additional materials to further expand the line up.

• Easy to print.

The Metal X leverages a Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) processing method that makes printing copper simple for the first time. The process starts with metal powder, captured in a plastic binder (which makes it safe to handle filament on a spool), and then forms it into the part shape one layer at a time. After printing, users wash the part to debind the wax, and then load the part in a furnace which thermally removes the remaining binder and then sinters the powder into the final fully metal part. This process overcomes the traditional challenges of 3D printing copper with directed energy systems (such as DMLS) due to copper’s high thermal conductivity.

• Expanded applications.

Markforged Copper offers Metal X customers the ability to print parts that require thermal and electrical conductivity. This breaks open a new set of applications for manufacturers across industries.

Applications

From heat sinks and bus bars, to custom welding shanks, Markforged customers are now able to reinvent the way they manufacture copper components. Customers are even experimenting with printing parts with complex internal cooling channels. Eliminate brazed or welded assemblies to reduce cost, increase consistency, and get rid of weak points. Here are some of the other ways you can use Markforged Copper:

• Low-volume Production Parts. Print in copper for low-volume production parts when the cost of tooling would be too high and the geometries are complex. Examples include bus bars and heat sinks.
• Tooling. Users have already started seeing great results in printing tooling in copper. A great example would be spot welding arms, which require high electrical conductivity.
• Functional Prototypes. Users can test out ideas in Markforged Copper before investing in production tooling.
  

Conclusion

Copper is now available for Markforged customers around the world. We’re really looking forward to seeing what our customers print with Markforged Copper. Markforged 3D printing platform is transforming manufacturing today— so what are you waiting for?

Request a demo

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5 ways you can 3D print with copper

Home > Latest Articles > 5 ways you can 3D print with copper

March 25, 2020 By Leslie Langnau Leave a Comment

According to a recent analyst forecast, the market for using copper material in 3D printing applications will grow 51% thanks to key technical developments in copper additive processes and materials.

While copper materials are being explored within each of the three primary metal AM print technology families, their chemistry presents challenges to processing using established or ‘conventional’ metal AM system configurations in most available technologies. These challenges include:
• Alterations to or adaptations of hardware architecture of existing printing systems
• Tailoring of material properties and powder characteristics of copper materials used
• Development of alternative metal additive printing technologies suited to copper printing

Several additive vendors, however, have developed unique ways of solving these challenges.

GE Additive Arcam uses Electron Beam Melting (EBM) to produce electrically pure copper in geometries not possible with traditional manufacturing. The novel geometries can help remove other process steps such as; soldering, joining or bending, especially where these steps might compromise conductivity and possibly the lifetime of the component.

Copper’s ability to absorb energy varies with the wavelength of the energy source. Pure copper absorbs 80% of the energy from an electron beam, compared to only 2% of the energy from a red laser beam. This gives EBM an advantage in terms of the ability to melt.

The vacuum environment in which EBM operates minimizes the oxygen pick-up in copper, allowing a high conductivity copper to be produced. Oxygen reduces the conductivity of copper while also embrittling the component.

The ability to produce complex geometries in pure copper without compromising the high electrical or thermal conductivity is suited to a range of sectors, including the automotive industry, or customers looking at applications for electrical connectors, induction coils, and heat exchangers.

The Markforged Metal X 3D printer can be used to manufacture complex copper parts with high electrical and thermal conductivity. Markforged uses a copper that is more than 99.8% pure. (The Metal X System also works with Markforged stainless steel, nickel superalloy, and tool steels and aluminum over copper options.)

The copper powder is combined with a plastic binder and extruded in a Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) process like other materials offered by Markforged. Once a part is built, users wash the part to debind the wax, and then load the part in a furnace which thermally removes the remaining binder and then sinters the powder into the final fully metal part.

Applications include heat sinks, bus bars, custom welded shanks, and parts with complex internal cooling channels. One benefit of 3D printing this way is it can eliminate brazed or welded assemblies.

Optomec offers a pure copper additive manufacturing process using its LENS directed energy deposition (DED) systems. Pure copper is a challenge for DED systems because of its high reflectance. The infrared wavelengths on most standard, laser-based AM systems are not readily absorbed by copper, making it difficult to establish a melt pool as the laser energy is reflected back into the source, causing havoc. Optomec’s laser-based solution is virtually immune to any back reflection, so the laser can operate at full power on reflective surfaces without difficulty. Optomec engineers have developed process parameters to account for thermal conductivity differences, as well as big changes in absorption and have demonstrated efficient DED builds with pure copper.

Establishing a DED process for pure copper is particularly important for designers of heat exchangers in a variety of industrial applications in aerospace and chemical processing. The Optomec copper process is also applicable to alloys of copper such as bronze, brass and cupronickel.

Spee3D introduced its copper 3D printing system a couple of years ago. This additive manufacturing technology uses supersonic deposition. Material is shot through a jet engine nozzle at speeds to Mach 3, and deposited in geometric patterns layer by layer. Known as Supersonic 3D Deposition (SP3D), no heat is used to melt the metal powders. And parts can safely be handled immediately after the build. The sheer kinetic energy of the moving particles causes the powders to bind together to form a high-density part with normal metallurgical properties.

The technology suits the production of parts you would otherwise build using sand or die casting. Applications include automotive, mining, commercial, HVAC and industrial parts. The machine does not need to use inert gases as the process works with normal compressed air. Post processing consists of finish machining. The deposition rate is up to 100 g/min. The deposition spot size is 4 to 7 mm.

Stratasys offers Copper (C18150), a chromium zirconium copper (CuCr1Zr) alloy, which offers excellent thermal and electrical conductivity. The company implemented controlled heat treat processes to optimize mechanical and material properties.

Stratasys uses its direct metal laser sintering (DMLS) technology with copper. Designers developing parts to be made of copper should keep an eye on wall thicknesses and feature details. Conformal cooling and complex internal passages may require the use of support structures. With heat exchangers, thinner walls are better, but there are limits on wall thinness–roughly 1000 micrometers of 0.040 in. In some cases, parts will need post-processing, including machining to improve the finish. Heat treatments may be needed for densification.

You will also find a number of service providers able to offer 3D printing with copper materials.

Filed Under: FAQs, Materials

Copper 3D Printing - Complete Guide

Copper is one of the newest and most promising areas of metal 3D printing for everything from electric motors to heat sinks.

Previously, copper 3D printing was a challenge due to the metal's reflectivity and high thermal conductivity, but advances in printers and materials have largely resolved these early problems. Today, 3D printed copper propulsion systems send rockets into space, 3D printed copper heatsinks cool processors, and 3D printed copper coils boost the performance of electric motors.

3D printed copper parts (Source: Trumpf)

Why 3D print copper?

Copper has always been a very useful metal due to its ability to conduct heat and electricity, resist corrosion and even kill bacteria and viruses. Demand for complex copper parts is on the rise as 3D printing opens up even more uses and possibilities for this metal.

3D printing (also known as additive manufacturing) enables the creation of exceptionally complex shapes, fine details, internal structures and lattice inserts that are not possible with any other form of metal fabrication. These capabilities reduce weight, increase efficiency, and reduce fabrication and assembly times, as multi-component assemblies can be 3D printed as a single unit.

Additive Metallurgy

3D printing also makes it possible to produce this relatively expensive metal more efficiently, reducing waste because only the amount of material needed is used to make each part. For companies interested in copper 3D printing, reducing raw material costs is critical.

If you already produce custom copper parts, 3D printing can significantly reduce your production costs while optimizing part performance.

Markforged 3D printed copper heatsink (Source: Markforged)

Although there aren't many 3D printers that can print copper, there is still a wide variety of printing technologies and prices.

FDM printers using copper-filled plastic filament can produce copper jewelry, decorative items, and other parts that are almost 100% copper. While for more advanced production, 3D printers using copper powder, rods or copper polymer slurry produce industrial parts with excellent mechanical and conductive properties, which can meet international standards such as IACS (International Annealed Copper Standard).

Let's look at what types of printers can work with copper today.

Trumpf's TruPrint 1000 Green Edition 3D printer

several equipment manufacturers have recently included copper in their material list. Since copper is highly reflective, laser processing of the powder has been a hurdle for manufacturers. However, this technology and materials have evolved to solve this problem.

3D printer manufacturer Trumpf, for example, has developed an industrial green laser that can 3D print materials such as copper, copper alloys, and precious metals that are difficult to process with infrared waves.

Two powder layer technologies for metal 3D printing, DMLS (Direct Metal Laser Sintering) and EBM (Electron Beam Melting), work by depositing a thin layer of copper powder onto a platform inside the printer. The powder heats up while lasers or electron beams draw the first layer of the part. When the particles in the layer fuse, the platform is lowered slightly into the assembly chamber, and fresh powder is poured on top, and the process is repeated. Some of the copper powder left over from the process can be recycled for use in the next print.

Copper additive manufacturing powder from GNK Powder Metallurgy (Source: GNK)

Copper-bonded 3D inkjet printers

Copper powder bonded with a liquid binder and sintered in a furnace is a 3D printing technique known as binder inkjet printing that produces parts without the use of an auxiliary material. Binder jetting is a no-heat process in which a bonding layer is sprayed between each layer of metal; the binder is then removed during the sintering process.

Binder blasting is a popular additive manufacturing method for high volume metal parts.

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Metal-on-Copper FDM Blasting Bet