International steel and industrials Group, Liberty has announced that it will be developing a new generation of powdered steels that contain properties that overcome the barriers to 3D printing found in existing powder metals. The world market for powder metals generally is estimated to be £8 billion a year, but the application of powders for 3D printing is still in its infancy.
Liberty’s longer-term aim is to establish a £60 million powder metals production plant on Teesside, feeding a network of advanced manufacturers and helping to make the UK an international leader in manufacturing with powder metals.
“Currently available powder is limited to stainless steel and tool steel which is high-cost and not that suitable for the additive manufacturing process, so we will be developing a new generation of powder alloys with finer grains that provide better mechanical properties making them stronger, tougher and more formable as well as being ideal for 3D printing.” Dr Simon Pike, Liberty’s technical director said.