Are the layers printed at the melting point of the metal being printed? If not, what is the glue used between each layer?

the metal is melted.

One process uses powdered oxide. A fine layer of powder is spread and then it is fused by drawing a pattern with a laser. This is repeated to build up a 3d structure.

A different method lays a continuous line of weld to build up the structure.

Boris said:

the metal is melted.

So ferrous materials aren’t printable?

bob(from black rock) said:

Are the layers printed at the melting point of the metal being printed? If not, what is the glue used between each layer?

https://www.bathsheba.com/sculpt/process/

The material is stainless steel powder, laid down in layers, held in place by a laser-activated binder. You can see the layering in the finished pieces. The powder feels like cool, heavy flour. During the build the extra unbound powder supports the piece, so no extraneous structure is needed to handle undercuts. Afterwards the loose powder falls off the part easily. It’s flowable, rather than caky like cornstarch.

Once the part is built and depowdered, what’s needed is to get rid of the binder and fill that space with more metal. Both are done in one step, infiltration, with heat. The secondary metal used to infiltrate my parts is bronze. Other combinations of metals than steel/bronze are possible, but none are yet available to me for production.
An uninfiltrated part is matte gray, feels like sandstone, and won’t take a polish. It’s soft enough to cut fast with a hacksaw, but can’t quite be dented with a fingernail. During infiltration, what makes the bronze flow through the part? Capillary action, so they tell me. If you find this implausible, you’re not alone.

One of the Melbourne Universities have 3D printed a complete jet engine.
The conventional way to make engine parts was to mould and cast and drill etc.
These manufacturing processes constrained the design.
With 3d printing designers are free of these constraints and can produce engines that are stronger and lighter and cut years off the preproduction phase.

Peak Warming Man said:

One of the Melbourne Universities have 3D printed a complete jet engine.
The conventional way to make engine parts was to mould and cast and drill etc.
These manufacturing processes constrained the design.
With 3d printing designers are free of these constraints and can produce engines that are stronger and lighter and cut years off the preproduction phase.

and probably riddled with catastrophic problems we as yet have no idea of

Peak Warming Man said:

One of the Melbourne Universities have 3D printed a complete jet engine.
The conventional way to make engine parts was to mould and cast and drill etc.
These manufacturing processes constrained the design.
With 3d printing designers are free of these constraints and can produce engines that are stronger and lighter and cut years off the preproduction phase.

It is called ‘additive engineering’. Boeing were talking about printing a complete aircraft. No joins or weak spots.

wookiemeister said:

Peak Warming Man said:

One of the Melbourne Universities have 3D printed a complete jet engine.
The conventional way to make engine parts was to mould and cast and drill etc.
These manufacturing processes constrained the design.
With 3d printing designers are free of these constraints and can produce engines that are stronger and lighter and cut years off the preproduction phase.

and probably riddled with catastrophic problems we as yet have no idea of

Yes, they will be sorted by CASSA and The Department of Air Crash Investigation.
These are known as post design field trials and they go on for years.

Someone should design a 3D printed bomb for the Defence Department

3D printed bombs could be cheaper and lighter?

CSIRO, my former division, is 3-D printing in titanium.

http://www.csiro.au/en/Research/MF/Areas/Metals/3D-Printing”:http://www.csiro.au/en/Research/MF/Areas/Metals/3D-Printing

At Lab 22, we offer metallic 3D printing facilities using an Arcam electron beam printer, the first in the southern hemisphere. Arcam 3D printing uses electron beam melting to fuse metal powders including titanium alloys, nickel and hard steel alloys, into complex 3D shapes and parts layer-by-layer.