Three-dimensional printing of hard materials

Tungsten cemented carbide parts have been produced by the “Solvent on Granule” 3D-Printing technique. It consists in growing layer-by-layer a green part by spreading a powder-polymer granule bed, followed by selective solvent jetting, and layer consolidation after solvent evaporation. The granules are prepared by wet blending, drying, milling and sieving to appropriate size range. The printed green parts are consolidated by thermal debinding and liquid phase sintering. Fully dense WC-Co test parts and a drill bit have been produced from presintered powder and elementary Co powder. The microstructures are equivalent to those of press and sintered parts. Good shape retention and tolerances are achieved. •« Solvent on granule » 3D-printing is an effective Additive Manufacturing route to produce hard metal parts•Granules prepared from presintered WC-Co powder and additional elementary Co•3D-printed dense WC-17.7Co parts•3D-printed part microstructure equivalent to press and sintering microstructures•Complex 3D-printed drill bit shows good shape retention and porosity less than A04