Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — Kennametal has introduced KAR85-AM-K, its most corrosion-resistant tungsten carbide grade for metal additive manufacturing. It is specifically combined with Kennametal's adhesive jet 3D printing function to produce fully finished wear parts. With KAR85-AM-K, Kennametal combines the advantages of 3D printing (such as greater design flexibility and shorter delivery time) with the performance of traditional cemented carbide to produce high-performance parts. Components made with the new grade are already in field trials with selected customers.

"Kenname Metal combines the excellent wear and corrosion resistance of our new KAR85-AM-K grade with deep expertise in binder jet 3D printing, leading the way in the field of tungsten carbide additive manufacturing," Ken Said Jay Verellen, General Manager of Nanometal Additive Manufacturing.

"With this new grade, we provide our customers with the best of both worlds-the ideal material properties of traditional tungsten carbide and the design flexibility of additives-for high-performance components that go further in the most demanding applications. "

With its deep material science expertise, Kennametal has developed KAR85-AM-K to provide corrosion and wear resistance similar to its traditional counterpart CN13S.

Combined with Kennametal's adhesive jet additive manufacturing capabilities, KAR85-AM-K can produce completely dense, corrosion-resistant parts that meet or exceed the performance of traditionally manufactured cemented carbide parts.

Compared with standard cobalt-based tungsten grades, the new grade uses a proprietary mixture of cobalt, nickel and chromium to improve corrosion resistance. This is the second commercial cemented carbide grade developed by Kennametal for use in the additive manufacturing process of binder jets, and it is also the latest member of the company's high-performance metal powder product portfolio optimized for 3D printing.

Kennametal Additive Manufacturing is the 3D printing business unit of the company's infrastructure department, providing comprehensive 3D printing solutions from raw materials to finished products. The business develops carbide, cobalt, nickel and iron powders, including Stellite™ alloys, optimized for specific additive manufacturing processes. At Kennametal's R&D, prototyping, and production center in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, the business uses laser powder bed and binder jet printing technology, combined with post-printing processing capabilities, to produce complete components for customers.