Three-dimensional printing of metal parts for tooling and other applications

Three-Dimensional Printing is a Solid-Freeform Fabrication process that creates parts out of powder by spreading layers into which binder is ink-jet printed to define the part geometry of that layer. By repetition of the process layer-by-layer, three-dimensional components of very complex geometry can be created. This paper describes key aspects of the application of Three-Dimensional Printing to the fabrication of metal tooling where surface finish, dimensional accuracy, wear resistance, and process complexity impose challenging constraints on materials selection and processing.