Advanced Materials and Applications in Powder Metallurgy

14:00 Tungsten Carbide – a sustainable solution for development
Dr. Margarethe Traxler, Head of Material Development, Böhlerit

A centennial history in industry and a huge impact on material development can’t stop tungsten carbide in its cemented carbide appearance. But its success depends not only on perpetual innovations and bright ideas for its  application but also on the raw material supply chain and strategies to strengthen it. A short overview over the history and the success strategies will be given in this presentation.

14:20 A CFD-parameter study to investigate the cooling capacity of heat sinks and its consequences on the choice of materials and geometry
Dr. Markus Schneider, Manager Modelling, Simulation and Fatigue, GKN Sinter Metals

The performance of heat sinks always represents a compromise between cooling capacity and flow resistance. The fins attached for convective heat transfer only make sense if the heat flow supplied by the carrier plate leads to a significant warming of the fins. If this is not the case, the corresponding fin only represents unnecessary flow resistance and can be removed. This is why the carrier plate is particularly important. The presentation will separate the effects of material and geometry selection and outline the consequences with regard to powder metallurgical manufacturing.

14:40 Flexible material development for additive manufacturing
Dr. Anke Kaletsch, Head of Powder Metallurgy and Ceramics, IWM-IAPK

Laser powder bed fusion (PBF-LB) is one of the most important additive manufacturing processes and is characterised by a very high degree of flexibility in terms of geometric freedom. However, this flexibility is not yet available in PBF-LB with regard to the materials to be processed; in general, only a limited selection of standard alloys is available. Powders for special applications are therefore often very expensive. A new approach to expanding the range of materials available for additive manufacturing is the principle of the powder construction kit. This allows different standard powders to be mixed with each other, with elemental powders or with other additives such as carbides or nitrides to produce new alloy concepts and materials. Alloy formation then takes place in situ during the PBF-LB process. This presentation will show some examples of how powder mixtures can be used to adapt and develop materials. In addition, the challenges that still need to be overcome when working with powder mixtures in the PBF-LB process will be discussed.