Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing technique for the production of finished parts/products of any shape based on the selective bonding of powders by means of a binder sprayed through a head. The process does not require the design and use of complex support structures.
The component is produced in several stages.
During the first stage the following actions take place:
- The 3D machine’s feeder distributes the metallic powder over the entire table surface in the working chamber.
- The head then selectively sprays the liquid binder, binding the powder and creating voxels, or 3D pixels.
- Once the binder has been applied, the machine’s work table is lowered by a preset height and the liquid photopolymer is cured with UV light.
- Meanwhile, the print head is cleaned.
- Subsequent layers of powder are then applied, bonded and cured.
In the second stage, the working chamber is removed from the 3D printing machine and placed in an oven. The curing process takes place at a temperature of approximately 200÷260◦C.
The final stage of the process is sintering in a special furnace at temperatures of approximately 900-1400◦C.
