3 ms·

There is a YouTube video of "3D Printing of Liquid Metals at Room Temperature" [1], posted about a month ago. There is even a paper on the topic called "3D Prin

• sliverstorm 13y ago
  Will these techniques allow for the eventual control over things like grain and annealing, or is this technique always going to be limited to the very basics of metal deposition?
  • msds 13y ago
    That exact technique? Not in the least - it relies on indium/gallium/tin/whatever alloys that are liquid at room temperature and immediately form thick oxide skins on contact with air. Even when solidified, they'll have mechanical properties resembling wet toilet paper! SLS/DMLS, however, can give quite a bit of control over the grain structure. The solidification rate of the melt-pool is generally very rapid, giving small and homogeneous grain structure, but there can be all sorts of problems with residual stresses in the part.