Scientists found outthat damask blade can be printed on a 3D printer. It will not be as perfect as a forged blacksmith, but it will be noticeably better than a steel blade. All that is needed for this is to configure the printing and cooling modes of the workpiece.
The light layers on the steel billet are harder and the darker ones are more plastic
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A group of scientists from the Max Planck Institute, using a 3D laser printer using an alloy of nickel, titanium and iron in the form of a powder for additive printing, printed a semblance of Damascus steel – a multi-layer sample of a steel bar with alternating layers of mild (plastic) and brittle, but strong steel. Blacksmiths in the classic Damascus steel recipe achieved a similar effect with the help of many forging cycles with different quenching (cooling) modes of the workpiece.
Scientists did the same. In the process of additive printing of a steel billet, they paused printing for a while, allowing the billet to cool, and only after that continued printing – and so many times. During re-heating during printing, microscopic particles of nickel, titanium and iron inside the steel were deposited on the layers below and changed their chemical composition. The result was a billet, the carbon composition of the layers of steel in which alternated with layers of harder steel, alternating layers of steel with a more elastic structure.
Testing of samples printed by the Damascus method of steel and a conventional sample printed in a continuous cycle showed the tensile strength of the Damask blank to be 20% higher than in a conventional sample. It took more time to print using the “Damascus” method, but printing of Damascus steel can be accelerated by controlling the laser power and using a system to cool the workpiece. In the end, it is a question of a correctly selected algorithm.
It seems that over time, industrial additive printing will receive a tool for producing products from Damascus steel, which will expand the horizons of 3D printing. Just don’t tell the Chinese about this technology …
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