New research from the University of Texas looks at liquid metal and the findings have interesting applications for metal additive manufacturing. The study focuses on, “splat morphology.”
Splat形态是指“study of the overall splat shape, spreading on the substrate surface and the splat thickness.”换句话说，液体颗粒（在这种情况下为液体融化）在撞击表面时的表现方式。论文解释了“desired splat properties depend on the particular application.”Since for coating purposes, greater spreading and small thickness is desirable, “虽然需要更高厚度的凸起，而添加剂制造过程则需要更高的厚度。”雷电竞充值
Advancing 3D printing with metal
This work expands the growing body of knowledge around how better use 3D printing metal can be made. Other researchers atLawrence Livermore国家实验室（LLNL）有Looked at ways to improve porosity and repeatability when working with direct metal laser sintering (DMLS). 3D Printing Industry has also spoken to正在努力提高对DML中发现的计量学的理解的NIST.
得克萨斯大学的这项特殊研究采用了不同的方法，重点是“solder jetting, microcasting, sputtering and 3D printing。”
Metal inkjet 3D printing research
The scientists, Vimal Ramanuj and Albert Y. Tong, embarked on the project with plans to identify a numerical model to predict splat behavior, and thus advance manufacturing methods.
该模型用于研究该过程的SPLAT形态和凝固特性，特别关注对流效应，热溶剂耦合和共晶的形成。
The specific process evaluated is a liquid metal printing technique. Metal inkjet 3D printing is still at a relatively earlier stage when compared to 3D printing techniques such as FDM or SLA. There are a variety of approaches taken by commercial 3D printing enterprises includingXJET的纳米颗粒喷射技术，Nano Dimension的Dragonfly 2020和VADER系统带有磁铁液体金属3D打印系统.
影响速度是一个重要因素
The UT model,“comprises of three governing equations: continuity, momentum and energy.”当然，显然温度对于金属的3D打印绝对至关重要，但团队发现速度也非常重要。正如他们在结论中所说的那样
The splat morphology is highly dependent on the impact velocity and droplet temperature.
The full paper, published in the Journal of Materials Science, can be viewed这里.
Don’t forget thatnominations for the 1st Annual 3D Printing Awards are closing soon，让我们知道，这项研究是否应包含在我们入围名单中的3D打印金属或其他任何工作。
另外，你可以在推特上关注我们和Facebook for more about the science behind 3D printing.
Featured image shows Visualization of liquid metal. Image via JK Studios.
