Formetrix, Inc., producer of proprietary, high-performance, steel alloys for additive manufacturing, has explored several additive manufacturing applications of its L-40 tool steel powder: Hot Stamping, Aluminum Die Casting and Cold Forming.
According to the company, in all three of these cases, Formetrix’s L-40 AM tool steel powder allowed the user to take advantage of additive manufacturing (increased tool complexity, design freedoms, lower part cycle times, streamlined tooling logistics, etc.) while maintaining or increasing part quality and tool life.
Hot Stamping, Aluminum Die Casting and Cold Forming
Hot Stamping: A stamping die insert produced using L-40 and additive manufacturing entered production in late 2018 at a Tier One Automotive supplier in Windsor, Canada. This stamping die recently surpassed 100,000 parts and continues to produce at specified quality levels. L-40 was printed onto a base of wrought H-13 to meet the stringent cost goals.
Aluminum Die Casting: A large aluminum die cast mold was printed with Formetrix’s L-40 powder and put into service at a Tier One Automotive supplier in Germany in 2018. This tool recently produced its 50,000th casting and continues in service.
Cold Forming: A Tier One fastener supplier to the Automotive industry worked closely with Formetrix to design and 3D print a set of highly-complex Compression Dies to apply advanced thread profiles and lower lead times. The supplier successfully made an initial run of 30,000 fasteners with these L-40 based compression dies, validating the concept of fast and affordable production of customized fasteners.
Visitors at the Formetrix booth (Hall 11, Level 0, B03) at FormNext will receive more information about this material.
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