WSU researchers develop one-step process to 3-D print multimaterial structures

A research team from Washington State University, with funding from the Joint Center for Aerospace Technology Innovation, the National Science Foundation, and NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center, has used 3-D printing in a one-step process to print structures made of two different materials.

The researchers used the technique to print out INCONEL® 718 nickel-chromium alloy and copper structures. They fabricated the bimetallic structures using laser engineering net shaping (LENS™), a commercially available additive manufacturing technique for fabricating metal parts directly from a CAD solid model by using a metal powder injected into a molten pool created by a focused, high-powered laser beam.

When they added copper in the 3-D printing process, the researchers found the part could be cooled 250 percent faster, opening up the possibilities of multimaterial metal additive manufacturing for aerospace structures.