The adoption of metal additive manufacturing is driven by the materials it can print.Companies around the world have long recognized this drive and have been working tirelessly to expand their arsenal of metal 3D printing materials.
Continued research into the development of new metallic materials, as well as the identification of traditional materials, has helped the technology gain wider acceptance.To understand the materials available for 3D printing, we bring you the most comprehensive list of metal 3D printing materials available online.
Aluminum (AlSi10Mg) was one of the first metal AM materials to be qualified and optimized for 3D printing.It is known for its toughness and strength.It also has an excellent combination of thermal and mechanical properties, as well as a low specific gravity.
Applications for aluminum (AlSi10Mg) metal additive manufacturing materials are aerospace and automotive production parts.
Aluminum AlSi7Mg0.6 has good electrical conductivity, excellent thermal conductivity and good corrosion resistance.
Aluminum (AlSi7Mg0.6) Metal Additive Manufacturing Materials for Prototyping, Research, Aerospace, Automotive and Heat Exchangers
AlSi9Cu3 is an aluminum-, silicon-, and copper-based alloy.AlSi9Cu3 is used in applications requiring good high temperature strength, low density and good corrosion resistance.
Applications of aluminum (AlSi9Cu3) metal additive manufacturing materials in prototyping, research, aerospace, automotive and heat exchangers.
Austenitic chromium-nickel alloy with high strength and wear resistance.Good high temperature strength, formability and weldability.For its excellent corrosion resistance, including pitting and chloride environments.
Application of stainless steel 316L metal additive manufacturing material in aerospace and medical (surgical tools) production parts.
Precipitation hardening stainless steel with excellent strength, toughness and hardness.It has a good combination of strength, machinability, ease of heat treatment and corrosion resistance, making it a popular material used in many industries.
Stainless 15-5 PH metal additive manufacturing material can be used to manufacture parts in various industries.
Precipitation hardening stainless steel with excellent strength and fatigue properties.It has a good combination of strength, machinability, ease of heat treatment and corrosion resistance, making it a commonly used steel in many industries.17-4 PH stainless steel contains ferrite, while 15-5 stainless steel contains no ferrite.
Stainless 17-4 PH metal additive manufacturing material can be used to manufacture parts in various industries.
Martensitic hardening steel has good toughness, tensile strength and low warpage properties.Easy to machine, harden and weld.High ductility makes it easy to shape for different applications.
Maraging steel can be used to make injection tools and other machine parts for mass production.
This case hardened steel has good hardenability and good wear resistance due to the high surface hardness after heat treatment.
The material properties of case hardened steel make it ideal for many applications in automotive and general engineering as well as gears and spare parts.
A2 tool steel is a versatile air-hardening tool steel and is often considered a “general purpose” cold work steel.It combines good wear resistance (between O1 and D2) and toughness.It can be heat treated to increase hardness and durability.
D2 tool steel has excellent wear resistance and is widely used in cold work applications where high compressive strength, sharp edges and wear resistance are required.It can be heat treated to increase hardness and durability.
A2 tool steel can be used in sheet metal fabrication, punches and dies, wear-resistant blades, shearing tools
4140 is a low alloy steel containing chromium, molybdenum and manganese.It is one of the most versatile steels, with toughness, high fatigue strength, wear resistance, and impact resistance, making it a versatile steel for industrial applications.
4140 Steel-to-Metal AM material is used in jigs and fixtures, automotive, bolts/nuts, gears, steel couplings, and more.
H13 tool steel is a chromium molybdenum hot work steel.Characterized by its hardness and wear resistance, H13 tool steel has excellent hot hardness, resistance to thermal fatigue cracking and heat treatment stability – making it an ideal metal for both hot and cold work tooling applications.
H13 tool steel metal additive manufacturing materials have applications in extrusion dies, injection dies, hot forging dies, die casting cores, inserts and cavities.
This is a very popular variant of the cobalt-chromium metal additive manufacturing material.It is a superalloy with excellent wear and corrosion resistance.It also exhibits excellent mechanical properties, abrasion resistance, corrosion resistance, and biocompatibility at elevated temperatures, making it ideal for surgical implants and other high-wear applications, including aerospace production parts.
MP1 also exhibits good corrosion resistance and stable mechanical properties even at high temperatures.It does not contain nickel and therefore exhibits a fine, uniform grain structure.This combination is ideal for many applications in the aerospace and medical industries.
Typical applications include prototyping of biomedical implants such as spine, knee, hip, toe and dental implants.It can also be used for parts that require stable mechanical properties at high temperatures and parts with very small features such as thin walls, pins, etc. that require particularly high strength and/or stiffness.
EOS CobaltChrome SP2 is a cobalt-chromium-molybdenum-based superalloy powder specially developed to meet the requirements of dental restorations that must be veneered with dental ceramic materials, and is especially optimized for the EOSINT M 270 system.
Applications include the production of porcelain fused metal (PFM) dental restorations, especially crowns and bridges.
CobaltChrome RPD is a cobalt based dental alloy used in the production of removable partial dentures.It has an ultimate tensile strength of 1100 MPa and a yield strength of 550 MPa.
It is one of the most commonly used titanium alloys in metal additive manufacturing.It has excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance with a low specific gravity.It outperforms other alloys with its excellent strength-to-weight ratio, machinability and heat-treating capabilities.
This grade also exhibits excellent mechanical properties and corrosion resistance with a low specific gravity.This grade has improved ductility and fatigue strength, making it widely suitable for medical implants.
This superalloy exhibits excellent yield strength, tensile strength, and creep rupture strength at elevated temperatures.Its exceptional properties allow engineers to use the material for high-strength applications in extreme environments, such as turbine components in the aerospace industry that are often subjected to high-temperature environments.It also has excellent weldability compared to other nickel-based superalloys.
Nickel alloy, also known as InconelTM 625, is a super alloy with high strength, high temperature toughness and corrosion resistance.For high-strength applications in harsh environments.It is extremely resistant to pitting, crevice corrosion and stress corrosion cracking in chloride environments.It is ideal for the manufacture of parts for the aerospace industry.
Hastelloy X has excellent high temperature strength, workability and oxidation resistance.It is resistant to stress corrosion cracking in petrochemical environments.It also has excellent forming and welding properties.Therefore, it is used for high-strength applications in harsh environments.
Common applications include production parts (combustion chambers, burners and supports in industrial furnaces) that are subjected to severe thermal conditions and a high risk of oxidation.
Copper has long been a popular metal additive manufacturing material.3D printing copper has long been impossible, but several companies have now successfully developed copper variants for use in various metal additive manufacturing systems.
Manufacturing copper using traditional methods is notoriously difficult, time-consuming and expensive.3D printing removes most of the challenges, allowing users to print geometrically complex copper parts with a simple workflow.
Copper is a soft, malleable metal most commonly used to conduct electricity and conduct heat.Due to its high electrical conductivity, copper is an ideal material for many heat sinks and heat exchangers, power distribution components such as bus bars, manufacturing equipment such as spot welding handles, radio frequency communication antennas, and other applications.
High-purity copper has good electrical and thermal conductivity and is suitable for a wide range of applications.The material properties of copper make it ideal for heat exchangers, rocket engine components, induction coils, electronics, and any application that requires good electrical conductivity such as heat sinks, welding arms, antennas, complex bus bars, and more.
This commercially pure copper provides excellent thermal and electrical conductivity up to 100% IACS, making it ideal for inductors, motors, and many other applications.
This copper alloy has good electrical and thermal conductivity as well as good mechanical properties.This had a huge impact on improving the performance of the rocket chamber.
Tungsten W1 is a pure tungsten alloy developed by EOS and tested for use in EOS metal systems and is part of a family of powdered refractive materials.
Parts made from EOS Tungsten W1 will be used in thin-walled X-ray guidance structures.These anti-scatter grids can be found in imaging equipment used in medical (human and veterinary) and other industries.
Precious metals such as gold, silver, platinum and palladium can also be efficiently 3D printed in metal additive manufacturing systems.
These metals are used in a variety of applications, including jewelry and watches, as well as in the dental, electronics, and other industries.
We saw some of the most popular and widely used metal 3D printing materials and their variants.The use of these materials depends on the technology they are compatible with and the end application of the product.It should be noted that traditional materials and 3D printing materials are not completely interchangeable.Materials may exhibit varying degrees of mechanical, thermal, electrical and other properties due to different processes.
If you’re looking for a comprehensive guide to getting started with metal 3D printing, then you should check out our previous posts on getting started with metal 3D printing and a list of metal additive manufacturing techniques, and follow for more posts that cover all elements of metal 3D printing.