WC-Co Filament for Material Extrusion (MEX) †
by
, , and
Gonçalo Oliveira
1,*
,
Ricardo Mineiro
2,
Ana Senos
2, 
Maria Elisabete Costa
2,
Cristina Fernandes
3,
Daniel Figueiredo
3 and
Maria Teresa Vieira
1 1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, Rua Luís Reis Santos, Pólo II, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal
2
Department of Materials and Ceramic Engineering (CICECO), University of Aveiro, 3810-193 Aveiro, Portugal
3
Palbit S.A., Palhal—Rua das Tílias S/n, 3850-582 Albergaria-a-Velha, Portugal
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
†
Presented at the Materiais 2022, Marinha Grande, Portugal, 10–13 April 2022.
Mater. Proc. 2022, 8(1), 40; https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008040
Published: 24 May 2022
(This article belongs to the Proceedings of MATERIAIS 2022)
Harder, better, faster, and stronger are requisites that are constantly being craved by manufacturing industries to match the ever-challenging productivity of new materials, geometries, and production cycles. Cutting tools fall in these demands as one of the protagonists of the machining process. New geometries, harder and tougher grades, optimized machining strategies, and better cooling for improved tool life are characteristics that are constantly being improved and pushed to new boundaries. By using additive manufacturing (AM) technologies to produce cutting tools, new doors open for the generation of more versatile and optimized geometries, having in mind the particularities of their applications.
Material extrusion (MEX) is an AM technology that has the potential to generate WC-Co cutting tools with new geometries and optimized cooling systems. A balance must be achieved between the properties of the filament used for the MEX process and the sinterability requirements to guarantee the exceptional quality of a tool. In this study, feedstock was prepared with WC-Co powder and an optimized binder/additive feedstock. The powders were evaluated through the 4Ss (particle size, particle size distribution, particle shape, and particle structure) and the feedstock by the critical powder volume percentage (CVCP) and its rheologic behavior. Finally, filaments were extruded and their “printability” as well as sinterability were tested.
Author Contributions
Conceptualization, M.T.V., A.S. and C.F.; methodology, M.T.V. and G.O.; validation, M.T.V., A.S. and C.F.; investigation, G.O. and R.M.; data curation, G.O.; writing—original draft preparation, G.O.; writing—review and editing, M.T.V., A.S., M.E.C. and C.F.; supervision, M.T.V.; project administration, C.F. and D.F. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding
This work was supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) under the Portuguese program Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade (COMPETE) (grant agreement no. POCI-01-0247-FEDER-047060). This research is also sponsored by FEDER funds through the program COMPETE—Programa Operacional Factores de Competitividade—and by national funds through the FCT—Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia—under the project UIDB/00285/2020.
Institutional Review Board Statement
Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement
Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement
Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
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Share and Cite
MDPI and ACS Style
Oliveira, G.; Mineiro, R.; Senos, A.; Costa, M.E.; Fernandes, C.; Figueiredo, D.; Vieira, M.T. WC-Co Filament for Material Extrusion (MEX). Mater. Proc. 2022, 8, 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008040
AMA Style
Oliveira G, Mineiro R, Senos A, Costa ME, Fernandes C, Figueiredo D, Vieira MT. WC-Co Filament for Material Extrusion (MEX). Materials Proceedings. 2022; 8(1):40. https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008040
Chicago/Turabian StyleOliveira, Gonçalo, Ricardo Mineiro, Ana Senos, Maria Elisabete Costa, Cristina Fernandes, Daniel Figueiredo, and Maria Teresa Vieira. 2022. "WC-Co Filament for Material Extrusion (MEX)" Materials Proceedings 8, no. 1: 40. https://doi.org/10.3390/materproc2022008040
