NiTiCu alloy from elemental and alloyed powders using vat photopolymerization additive manufacturing

The metal vat photopolymerization technique (MVP) has high potential for metal part production because of its high accuracy, speed, and flexibility. However, low density, poor mechanical properties, and effects of sintering parameters on the properties are some of the challenges in MVP. This paper is the first to investigate the possibility of producing a NiTiCu metal alloy using VP from Ni, Ti, and Cu elemental and mechanically alloyed powders. The effect of particle size distribution and solid content on the physical and mechanical properties is also studied and compared. The results indicate that all three elements are homogeneously distributed in the whole print without premixing the powders, which considerably reduces processing time. Finer particle size and higher solid content also improve densification degree, hardness, flexural strength, and surface quality of the final parts. The measured surface roughness (Ra) of NiTiCu was 6.42 µm and 10.31 µm for milled and elemental powders, respectively. However, the mechanical properties of NiTiCu produced by VP in this study remain insufficient and in need of further improvement.