3D printing with one of the world’s hardest Tungsten-based materials is now possible — material’s incredible hardness made it difficult to additively manufacture

Researchers at Hiroshima University have developed a method for 3D printing one of the hardest engineering materials, tungsten carbide-cobalt (WC-Co), which was previously challenging to additively manufacture due to its extreme hardness. By using a hot-wire irradiation method that softens the material instead of fully melting it, the team was able to create a 3D printing process that reduces waste compared to traditional manufacturing. The resulting 3D printed material retains a hardness of over 1400 HV, approaching the levels of super-hard materials like sapphire and diamond. The researchers aim to refine the process further to address cracking issues and enable the creation of more complex shapes, highlighting the potential for this novel approach in forming metal materials.