3D printing is a kind of rapid prototyping technology, it is a kind of digital model documents based on the use of powdered metal or plastic and other adhesive materials, through the way of layer by layer printing to construct objects. 3D printing is usually done using digital materials printers. It is often used in mold manufacturing, industrial design and other fields to make models, and then gradually used in the direct manufacturing of some products. There are already parts printed with this technology. The technology has applications in jewelry, footwear, industrial design, architecture, engineering and construction (AEC), automotive, aerospace, dental and medical industries, education, geographic information systems, civil engineering, firearm and other fields. Such as 3D-printed running shoes, 3D-printed prosthetic limbs, 3D-printed wheelchair racing, 3D-printed sportswear and so on, one by one.

And in the aluminum industry, some of the world's industry giants also seem to see the broad prospects of 3D printing technology, have announced that they will devote themselves to the 3D printing business. Rusal announced an agreement with Germany's SAUER GMBH, a member of DMGMORI, the world's largest manufacturer of hybrid lamination machines, to jointly develop industrial 3D printing technology for aluminum and aluminum alloys. The technology will be able to print aluminum parts for customers in the machine manufacturing, aerospace and automotive industries, heralding the world's aluminum giant as an industry leader in 3D printing.

Americans are also feeling the wave of 3D printing. Researchers at Michigan Tech University's Open Sustainability Technology (MOST) Lab have launched a project to explore the use of common aluminum alloys in 3D printing. The paper about this project is "Relationship between Structure and Properties of 3D Metal Printing Technology Based on GMAW when Using Common Aluminum Welding Alloy as raw material". The beginning of this research will be a good beginning for aluminum alloy 3D printing to come to life.

3 d printing brought a worldwide manufacturing revolution, is a former parts design completely depends on the production process can be fulfilled, and the emergence of 3 d printers will overturn the production way of thinking, which makes the enterprise in the production of parts of time no longer consider the production process, any complex shape design can be done by 3 d printers. This will greatly improve the precision of precision instrument parts, so that its operation is more sophisticated, smooth.

This important feature is reflected in the aluminum industry is the use of customized 3D printers for the processing of aluminum parts, and the accuracy can be controlled in micron level. This feature is critical to the refining of the aluminum alloy parts of various machines, so Audi of Germany has specially purchased a batch of 3D printers, saying that the ultimate goal is "to achieve the efficient production of small batch products with optimized topology and process".

Russia's scientific and business communities are also working together to improve the country's competitiveness in the global 3D printing market. Spaceship is an important priority project, especially the manufacture of satellites. The project to create a 3D printer for high-quality satellites is under development with support from Roscosmos, the Russian Federal Space Agency, and other spaceflight related Russian companies and universities.

In late 2016, Russian President Vladimir Putin was shown a prototype of a 3D printer by Sirius, a Russian-language education center for outstanding young people in Sochi, Russia. This model has been adapted and used in the operation of the International Space Station to produce suitable artificial satellites. And JorisLaarman Labs has unveiled a 3D-printed piece of furniture called a "gradated aluminum chair." Made from a small amount of molten aluminum alloy combined with 3D printing technology, the chair has a complex spatial structure and aesthetic that illustrates the concept of furniture design in the digital age.

At the end of 2017, Nature published Tresam. Pollock et al. developed a universal metal 3D printing technology that realized 3D printing of aluminum alloy based on nanometer nucleating agent, inspired by traditional smelters. This technology enables 7075 and 6061 series of high-strength aluminum alloys, which are not suitable for 3D printing in the past, to be 3D printed by selective laser melting technology. The 3D-printed products have a crack free, equiaxed, fine crystalline microstructure, which makes the strength of 3D-printed aluminum alloy close to that of forged aluminum alloy. This method is suitable for a series of alloy materials and 3D printing equipment, and has good universality. At the same time, the technology can also be used as reference for traditional processes, such as casting, hot die casting, which are easy to produce hot tear and hardening crack.

Will the marriage of 3D printing and aluminum revolutionize the aluminum industry? Let's wait and see!