Kennametal Offers a New Tungsten Carbide Powder for Metal Additive Manufacturing
The powder is available exclusively in combination with Kennametal’s binder jet 3D printing capabilities to produce fully finished wear components. With the new powder, Kennametal combines the advantages of 3D printing, such as greater design flexibility and shorter lead times, with the performance of conventional carbide, to produce high-performance parts for customers in 1) oil and gas and 2) power generation, as examples. Components made with the new grade are already in field trials with select customers.
“Kennametal is leading the way in tungsten carbide additive manufacturing by combining the superior wear and corrosion resistance of our new KAR85-AM-K grade with deep expertise in binder jet 3D printing,”
Said Jay Verellen, general manager, Kennametal Additive Manufacturing: “With this new grade, we’re delivering the best of both worlds for our customers—the highly desirable material properties of conventional tungsten carbide with the design flexibility of additive—for high performance components that go the distance in the most demanding applications.”
Kennametal developed KAR85-AM-K to provide corrosion- and wear-resistant properties analogous to its conventional counterpart grade, CN13S. Kennametal said that combined with its binder jet additive manufacturing capabilities, the new powder results in fully densified, corrosion-resistant components that meet or exceed the properties of conventionally manufactured carbide components.
The new grade composition features a proprietary blend of cobalt, nickel, and chromium for improved corrosion resistance compared to standard cobalt-based tungsten grades. It is Kennametal’s second commercial carbide grade developed for use in its binder jetting additive manufacturing processes and the latest addition to the business’s portfolio of high-performance metal powders optimized for 3D printing.
Kennametal Additive Manufacturing offers 3D printing solutions, from raw material to finished part.
