Rapid progress is currently being made in the commercial use of technologies for quickly forming three-dimensional objects of complex shape and structure on the basis of a method of printing (Rapid Prototyping Technology -RPT) that employs laser sintering. These state-of-the-art technologies are making it possible to rapidly and flexibly modify a production process directly on the basis of SAPR-models, which significantly shortens the stage from computer-aided design to the manufacture of new products, lowers the cost of those products, and improves their quality.One of the simplest modifications of RPT is three-dimensional printing, in which a product of complex configuration is formed in succession -layer by layer. The algorithm that constructs the thin layers of the product makes it possible to represent the structure of individual thin layers in accordance with the image of the product's computer model. By using a technology similar to jet printing, a layer of material is deposited on a substrate and is then sintered by a laser beam moving in a prescribed direction. The successive buildup and sintering of the next layer makes it possible to create a product with a complex intemal and external configuration. There are commercial systems that can make sand foundry molds and metal molds for the injection molding of plastics. One example is the system EOSINT, developed by the company Electro Optical System Zeiss Gruppe (Germany). So far, selective laser sintering (SLS) is the most promising method for making ceramic and metallic products based on RP technology [1]. One serious problem yet to be resolved is selecting materials that are capable of undergoing quality sintering under complicated conditions in the factory. The laser treatment is a brief process: under these conditions, sintering occurs only in the presence of a liquid phase formed by the melting of a low-melting fraction or by partial fusion of the particles of a powder. To date, the most progress has been made in the sintering of two-component powder systems. For example, such a system might include aluminum oxide, silicon carbide, and a low-melting organic binder. Ceramic products are successfully being made from these materials by the above-described technology [2~-]. Multicomponent powder mixtures sinter fairly readily, since one of the components has a low melting point. Better results need to be obtained in manufacturing steel products directly by RPT technology on the basis of selective laser sintering, and there has been no success at all in sintering one-component metallic powders that do not contain a low-melting binder. It is known that high-carbon tool steels have a high concentration of a low-melting carbide eutectic. Thus, we examined the feasibility of the selective laser sintering of a powder tool steel without the use of a low-melting binder.The steel powder (3.0% C; 3.0% Cr; 1.0% Si; 12.0% V; Fe -base) was made at the Tulachermet Scientific-IndustrialAssociation. The average size of the particles of the powder was 250 ktm. The granul...
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