
Mark Easton
Mark has worked on aluminium alloys for 30 years when he started a PhD at the University of Queensland. He has worked at Comalco-Rio Tinto, Monash University and at the Leichtmetallkompetenz Zentrum, Ranshofen (LKR) in Austria. He was a program manager and CEO of the CAST Co-operative Research Centre.
His aluminium contributions include optimisation of grain refinement and cracking in extrusion billet, understanding quench sensitivity in extrusion alloys and grain refinement in cast alloys.
After joining RMIT in 2014, his interest in aluminium alloys has continued particularly in additive manufacturing. Professor Mark Easton is currently the Associate DVC (Research Infrastructure).
Hybrid laser powder bed fusion additive manufacture of H13 tooling for aluminium extrusion tools
Tri Dung Phan1, Maciej Mazur1, Thomas Dorin2, Andrey Molotnikov1,
and Mark Easton1
1Centre for Additive Manufacturing, School of Engineering, RMIT University, Australia
2Institute for Future Materials, Deakin University, Australia
Abstract. Conventional manufacture of aluminium hot extrusion tooling typically relies on subtractive manufacturing methods, which can limit the feasible geometry of the die profile and associated extrudates. Furthermore, once the die geometry wears it is difficult to repair. Combining subtractively manufactured substrates with additive manufactured (AM) sections in a single hybrid tool, can enable the manufacture of dies with increased complexity and the repair of critical geometry to extend die life. Several studies have explored the manufacture of hybrid injection moulding tools composed of maraging steel, using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (L-PBF). However, maraging steel is generally not suitable for more demanding tooling application such as aluminium extrusion where H13 tool steel is commonly preferred due to higher service temperatures. The hybrid manufacture of H13 tools with L-PBF has not been previously comprehensively demonstrated in the literature. In this work, H13 steel was successfully built on wrought and machined H13 substrates using optimised L-PBF processing parameters resulting in a robust interfacial bond and minimum porosity. Mechanical properties of the hybrid parts were quantified and compared to wrought H13 counterparts. A trial extrusion tool was subsequently manufactured and tested successfully demonstrating the feasibility of hybrid L-PBF additive manufactured H13 tooling.
Sessions by
Mark Easton
Day – TBA
Time TBA
Hybrid Laser Powder Bed Fusion Additive Manufacture of
H13 Tooling for Aluminium Extrusion Tools