The ExOne Company, North Huntingdon, Pa., announces the release of 304L stainless steel powder as a printable material through its Production Service Center in North Huntingdon, and as a qualified material on its 3D printers. 304L is the most commonly used stainless steel and is suitable to applications in a wide range of industries due to its high durability, corrosion resistance, and low cost. Some of the common applications include components for appliances, marine, medical, kitchenware, fasteners, and heat exchangers.
304L is the latest high-density, single alloy material to be offered by ExOne, which has been offering 316L and 17-4PH as qualified materials since 2017. Customers can now take advantage of the benefits of 304L while also utilizing ExOne’s binder jetting 3D printing technology. Binder jetting allows users to 3D print complex parts that cannot be created with traditional subtractive manufacturing methods and commonly has a lower cost to manufacture than other additive manufacturing technologies.
In addition to its suite of high density, single alloy materials, ExOne’s PSC offers printing of matrix metals, including 420 stainless steel infiltrated with bronze and 316 stainless steel infiltrated with bronze.
Rick Lucas, Chief Technology Officer at ExOne, commented, “By using the same metal powders that are used in the metal injection molding industry, we are able to quickly develop materials that meet MPIF (Metal Powder Industries Federation) Standard 35 and cost significantly less than parts produced using other 3D technologies, such as powder bed fusion technologies.”
ExOne will feature 304L parts at the upcoming IMTS (International Manufacturing Technology Show) to be held on September 10-15 at McCormick Place in Chicago.
