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Can a train be built using 3D printing? (Original Post) Aaronquah May 2013 OP
Not any train I'll ride on. I suppose some decorative and surface plastics. onehandle May 2013 #1
Sure PuffedMica May 2013 #2
Today, probably not. 30 years from now (on Mars or the Moon) sure! agentS May 2013 #3
3D Printing in Stainless Steel Ptah May 2013 #4
From their process description, it sounds like they temporarily and weakly bond struggle4progress May 2013 #5

onehandle

(51,122 posts)
1. Not any train I'll ride on. I suppose some decorative and surface plastics.
Thu May 23, 2013, 08:47 AM
May 2013

Nothing substantial.

3D printing is still in its infancy.

agentS

(1,325 posts)
3. Today, probably not. 30 years from now (on Mars or the Moon) sure!
Fri May 24, 2013, 08:27 PM
May 2013

Just need to find a way to get the final product to be strong and rigid (to 'set' like a metal) would.

struggle4progress

(118,295 posts)
5. From their process description, it sounds like they temporarily and weakly bond
Sat May 25, 2013, 02:10 AM
May 2013

stainless steel particles with an optically-polymerized resin, then take the resulting objects and gently somehow replace some of the resin with molten bronze to obtain a stronger material

"It is heatproof to 831C/1528F degrees. Higher temperatures may significantly change material properties."

The melting point of bronze is around 950 °C (1742 °F) while the melting point of stainless steel is around 1510 °C (2750 °F), so the temperature warning suggests that the "printed stainless steel" still consists of discrete stainless steel particles, now somewhat better glued together by being encased in a bronze matrix, but perhaps not always uniformly encased ("Items closer to the bronze infusion start point will absorb more bronze")

I don't know how well the bronze solders the stainless steel particles together: the bronze deposits must be very thin, so if you imagine the bronze matrix alone, it will seem foamy, though in reality the "bubbles" are particles of stainless

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