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Home » 3D Printing Materials » SLM Metal Technology for 3D Printing » Aluminum
Objects 3D printed by Sculpteo in aluminum AlSi10Mg0.6 are created from a fine metal powder composed mainly of aluminum, silicon (10%) and magnesium (0.6%). This material has good mechanical properties and can be used for parts subject to high voltages. The material is durable and lightweight. Its composition makes it very suitable for molding. This alloy is commonly used in foundries for fine objects and complex geometries. The second advantage of aluminum AlSi10Mg0.6 is its very low weight.
These features make aluminum AISi10Mg0.6 particularly effective in areas where a strength/mass ratio as well as good thermal properties are required. The parts produced by SLM AISi10Mg0.6 aluminum have excellent properties and rival those produced by traditional methods.
The raw material has a grainy and rough surface. This is adequate in most cases, but if you want a special finish, such as polishing, you can contact our sales department online. The finishing process involves one of our technicians working manually on your parts to improve your 3D printed object.
Compared to the other 3D printing materials, our aluminum has the roughest surface, but you can contact our sales team for specific surface finishes.
As aluminum is fused at a very high temperature, metal additive manufacturing requires great technical expertise for the pre-study of the thermal and mechanical effects before the 3D print, and excellent knowledge of the finishing techniques for the completion of the object.
Additive manufacturing of aluminum parts is often most successful in projects where 3D printing is fully justified because it is the best production method, compared to other manufacturing techniques (casting, machining, cutting). We note that 3D printing is often advantageous for:
To successfully manufacture your part, it is often necessary to modify the original design. At the risk of repeating ourselves, we prefer to warn you: if you want to create a part in aluminum out of curiosity or for fun, you risk being disillusioned when you realize how much effort and cost is involved in achieving it!
The printing price of your design is calculated automatically the moment it is uploaded. As you modify your object (changing material, finishing, size, using batch control or hollowing feature, etc.) you will note that the price changes automatically. The pricing is based on a series of factors, including total volume, object size, and bounding box – to name a few.
Keep in mind that adding finishing will extend the processing time. The estimated shipping time is also calculated automatically as the object is uploaded and each time you make a modification on it. Delivery time should be added to processing time.
For more information, check our pricing page.
3D aluminum printing is carried out by melting or laser sintering. There are currently two technologies: DMLS and SLM. At Sculpteo, we use SLM (Selective Laser Melting), a laser melting technique. The laser beam locally brings the metal powder to its melting point, layer after layer, in order to make your object.
Standard layer thickness | 150 µm |
Accuracy | +/- 0.2 mm |
Maximum size raw | 220 x 220 x 250 mm |
Minimum wall thickness | 1 mm |
The walls of your design must adhere to a minimum thickness of 1 mm in order to guarantee the structure will not break. If the walls of your model are less than 1 mm, we recommend you to thicken them or add a support structure to maintain stability.
For an object that is sure to be solid, a minimum thickness of 1 mm is recommended.
Sculpteo offers an online solidity check tool that highlights parts of the print that may be too thin for a print. From there you are able to tweak your design in order to create an object that is an appropriate thickness. To use it, you just need to upload your 3D file, select your material and click on the “Verification” tab.
It is also important to keep in mind that the object is to be printed in a physical form. Thus if a thin aspect is supporting something that is too heavy for it, it may break – even though it is possible with the physics provided within the 3D printing program. We recommend adding a bit of thickness to the places that will get a lot of handling, or that support the most weight.
Do not forget
Keep in mind that our solidity check tool does not detect physical aberrations such as floating parts, unstable position, parts supporting too much weight relative to their thickness, etc. Particular care must be given to the geometry of your design and the most stressed parts must be thickened.
Minimum size of details | 1 mm |
Minimum height and width details | Embossed: 0.5 mm Engraved: 0.5 mm |
Minimum height and width for a readable text | 1 mm |
Enlargement ratio | 1/1 |
A detail’s minimum precision is mainly determined by the resolution of our printers. However, during the cleaning process, a fine layer of detail can also be lost. In order for a detail and text to be visible we recommend following our recommended sizes at the very least. To ensure a better powder removal (thus a better detail precision), the width of your details must be at least as big as depth.
Enclosed parts? | Not recommended |
Interlocking parts? | Not recommended |
Minimum clearance between parts | 0.2 mm |
Assembly? | No |
Hollowing? | No |
Files with Multiple Objects? | No |
This is not possible to 3D print a 3D file containing several objects with Aluminum.
It is not possible to print a 3D file containing several objects, that’s why we cannot accept files that contain clusters of multiple objects. Though, if you wish to purchase more than one identical parts, you can select the number of parts you want to order during the checkout. The more parts you order, the lower your price per part gets.
You can also use our online tools and see our tricks and tips on how to reduce your 3D printing price.
To get more information on your metal additive manufacturing service, you can contact our qualified sales team.
Mechanical Properties | Conditions | Unit | Value |
---|---|---|---|
Ingredients | – | % | Aluminum: >90 Silicon: 9-11 Magnesium: 0,2 – 0,45 |
Density of laser-sintered part | EOS-Method | g/cm3 | 2.7 |
Tensile Modulus | – | GPa | 73 ± 3 |
Tensile Strength | ISO 6892-1:2009 | MPa | 460 ± 20 |
Elongation at break (XY) | ISO 6892-1:2009 | % | 9 ± 2 |
Elongation at break (Z) | ISO 6892-1:2009 | % | 6 ± 2 |
Melting point | DIN 53736 | °C | 630- 670 |
With Sculpteo’s online 3D printing service you’re just a few clicks away from professional Aluminum AlSi10Mg0.6 3D printing. Your 3D model is printed with the highest quality and delivered straight to your door.
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