Designing and manufacturing of a three dimensional printer for low melting temperature metal alloys

Additive manufacturing is the technology that transforms the digital model into a physical product with three-dimensional printers that accumulate material in layers. Additive manufacturing systems are very important in the aerospace industry, thanks to the freedom of design they provide in production. In this sector, where consumables are usually steel or titanium alloys, three-dimensional printers that can produce high thermal energy and control environmental conditions are required. Therefore, these systems are very costly. For additive manufacturing of low melting temperature alloys, systems with simpler equipment and low cost can be used. With the melt deposition technique (FDM), it is possible to obtain conductive products with good mechanical properties from alloys with low melting temperatures. In this study, it is aimed to manufacture all metal products in a single process with a FDM 3D printer. Samples were produced from alloys with chemical compositions of Bi50Pb26.7Sn13.3Cd10 and Bi50Pb25Sn25. The physical and mechanical properties of the samples produced by 3D printer and casting were examined. According to the data obtained as a result of the study, it has been determined that the surface roughness of the metal samples produced in the 3D printer varies greatly depending on the direction. It has been observed that although the samples produced in 3D printers have lower tensile strength than casting, they show more elongation before breaking. In addition, for the Bi50Pb26.7Sn13.3Cd10 alloy, it was determined that the samples produced in the 3D printer had higher hardness than the cast samples.