Another Major Breakthrough in 3D Printing - The Impact of Magnet 3D Printing in Manufacturing

For many of us, the first time we heard about magnets was the science course at elementary school. But as a matter of fact, many of the world we live in is dependent on the forces of mutual restraint and attraction, such as generators, electric horns, trains, cranes......

Recently, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) announced that their permanent magnets would be better than conventional magnets. The permanent magnet itself forms a permanent magnetic field, so it can continue to operate without recharging. The development of this permanent magnet may prove a great success for the development of 3D printing technology. According to ORNL's research, mixing magnetic powders with polymers as binders, and then forming preferred shapes by material deposition, and then using several processing methods to form magnet mixing materials, such as extrusion. At present, the idea of magnet 3D printing is relatively new, and according to the evidence, this technology has been recognized by more and more colleges and universities around the world.

Magnet 3D Printing in Manufacturing

"Manufacturing is changing rapidly. A customer may need as many as 50 different designs, so this universal magnet will be a good solution."." Liang Li ORNL researchers said, "the traditional process of injection mold requires a fee in the design to create a mold, but 3D printing technology, it can quickly complete the design through the computer aided design function". The composite particles are formed by mixing 65% of the isotropic NdFeB magnetic powder with 35% of the polyamide (nylon). The production company then molded the composite particles into a variety of shapes by dissolving and pressing them. Nylon is a very common and widely used laser sintering 3D printing material. After such a mixing method, it becomes a permanent magnet mixture suitable for 3D printing. It is proved that the extruded nylon magnet composite particles can exhibit higher accuracy than other materials such as plastic filament.

3D printer using BAAM system itself has a huge amount of construction, with 3.56*1.65*0.86 meters of molding space, and has a single screw extruder, print bed and hot bed. Therefore, the utility model can directly stack the printing pieces on an aluminum board at the printing temperature of 270 DEG C, and can provide maximum adhesive force. In addition, this innovative method of manufacturing permanent magnets can effectively reduce the waste of 30% to 50% of the waste generated during the 3D printing process. The reason is simple, because in the process, any material can be obtained and recycled. Considering that NdFeB magnetic powder is the most permanent magnetic material so far, it will be a big surprise for 3D printing material. Due to the addition of permanent magnetic material, printing complex shapes of motors and engines will become a less difficult task. Because it eliminates many of the limitations of today's manufacturing methods." Alex King, head of materials research institute.

For the moment, the research is still new, so further research and exploration is still needed in the laboratory. But the team's work has laid the foundation for its future success and provides enormous potential for the use of magnetic Science in consumer goods. I believe we will also be the same as Xiao Bian thought, if 3D printing technology can really bring us more powerful and more flexible products, then its development will be overwhelming. The permanent magnetic material developed by ORNL is undoubtedly an important material to change the world.