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Copper is newest material available for 3D printing

3D-printed copper component. [Photo courtesy: Markforged]

 

 

For the first time ever, it's simple to 3D print pure copper. With the Markforged Metal X 3D printer, you can now easily manufacture electrically and thermally conductive complex parts -- and replace a conventional manufacturing process that's often difficult and expensive.

Copper presents a unique value among 3D-printable metal materials: It's primarily used for its thermal and electrical conductivity instead of its mechanical properties (strength, stiffness, or hardness). The Metal X offers a safe and accessible way to 3D print copper, opening up a whole new world of applications for manufacturers across industries.

"Copper powers our world. It's everywhere. It builds our cars, enables phones, and keeps electrical equipment running," said Greg Mark, Markforged CEO and founder. "Copper has traditionally been an expensive and challenging material to machine and incompatible for 3D printing in a pure form with other techniques. Now, we've made it easier and cheaper to produce. Markforged 3D-printed copper will be a game-changer for the automotive and electronics industries, and it will open the door to innovation across many more."

3D printing copper on the Metal X enables engineers to create geometrically optimized copper parts. From heat sinks to bus bars to custom welding arms, Markforged customers are reinventing the way they manufacture copper components.

Heat sinks are one of many applications for 3D-printed copper components in electronics. [Photo courtesy: Markforged]

 

 

The new material is available for the Metal X system, Markforged's patented platform that safely and rapidly 3D prints metal. Copper is the latest metal to join the lineup of materials, which also includes aerospace superalloys like Inconel 625, 17-4 PH Stainless Steel, H13 Tool Steel, D2 Tool Steel, and A2 Tool Steel. The Metal X is used to deliver on applications such as functional prototypes, tooling and fixtures, and end-use production parts to help customers reduce manufacturing costs and improve supply chain efficiency.

Material benefits

  • Harness high thermal and electrical conductivity, including greater than 350 W/mK thermal conductivity and 84 percent IACS electrical conductivity.
  • Consistently create complex, tight-tolerance parts with the safe, easy, and affordable Metal X system.
  • Bring copper part production in-house, reducing lead times to a few days.

Introducing Copper for the Metal X 3D Printer from Markforged on Vimeo.

"Every automotive factory in the world uses copper for welding," Mark added. "Complex production parts are required to weld tight spots of the car body. They cost thousands of dollars to make and can have months-long lead times. But Markforged is changing all of that by enabling manufacturers to produce parts in-house so they get them faster and for significantly lower costs. With our 3D-printed parts, automotive manufacturers can print the parts they need on demand instead of holding significant inventory and will be able to design new kinds of welding shanks that were never before possible."

Hundreds of Markforged 3D printers are deployed at nine of the 10 highest valued auto manufacturers in the world. Markforged partnered with one of these customers (a well-known automotive manufacturer) to conduct in-depth weld testing using copper. After thousands of welds, the manufacturer has been "thrilled" by the results.

The testing showed the same resistance as traditionally manufactured spot welding shanks, and they plan to extend the use of the 3D-printed parts to the production line. With Markforged additive manufacturing, the automotive manufacturer has already reported reduced part lead times by 12x and part costs by 6x.

3D printing copper with Markforged is faster and more cost effective than purchasing complex machined components for this manufacturer, and the company expects it to help mitigate downtime exposure and reduce inventory costs by $200,000 a year using only one Metal X system.

Learn more at markforged.com/materials/copper/.

Get the Markforged copper data sheet (PDF) here.

Source: Markforged

Published February 2020

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