Direct ink writing of metal parts with curing by UV light irradiation

Abstract To develop a low-cost 3D printing technology for metal parts, we combined the direct ink writing technology with UV light curing to print complex-shaped high-speed steel parts. To obtain the printing slurry, metal powders were mixed with photosensitive resin. After optimizing the printing slurry and printing parameters, the photosensitive resin formed a robust cross-linking network under UV light irradiation, thus bonding powder particles together. The printed sample had good printing quality without any pores or defects found. The surface roughness was about 1.58 μm. After sintering, the as-sintered sample had homogeneous microstructure, relatively high density of 98.2%, and low surface roughness value of 0.42 μm. Uniform sintering shrinkage with a shrinkage coefficient of 9% was observed. Overall, one promising technology was proposed to print metal parts with complex shapes by UV-assisted direct ink writing.