Achieving Over 99.5% Density — Xikong Smart Manufacturing Breaks New Ground in High-Performance Pure Copper 3D Printing with EBM Technology

By Panda3dp.com — Copper and its alloys, essential conductive and thermal materials, play a critical role across industries such as electronics, automotive, power, heat dissipation, aerospace, and new energy. As these sectors expand rapidly, demand for complex, high-performance copper components continues to rise—pushing traditional manufacturing beyond its limits and driving interest in 3D printing for pure copper and copper-alloy parts.

Understanding Electron Beam Melting (EBM)

Electron Beam Melting (EBM) is a metal additive manufacturing technology developed in the 1990s. It uses a focused, high-energy electron beam in a vacuum to selectively melt layers of metal powder, forming components layer by layer.

Key advantages include:

· Extremely high energy density and fast scanning speed

· High energy absorption (>90%) for reflective materials like copper, gold, silver, magnesium, and aluminum

· Low residual stress and strong interlayer bonding

· Suitability for hard, brittle, and high-melting-point metals such as titanium–aluminum and tungsten alloys

EBM’s unique ability to efficiently process highly reflective metals makes it a promising solution for industries such as aerospace, defense, biomedical engineering, and automotive.

Why Laser-Based Printing (SLM) Struggles with Copper

1. High Reflectivity

Copper reflects up to 95% of infrared laser light (e.g., 1064 nm fiber lasers), meaning most of the laser energy is reflected rather than absorbed. This leads to unstable melting, poor fusion, and limited process control—especially for high-purity copper.

2. Equipment Damage

The reflected light can damage optical components such as galvanometers and mirrors, causing reliability issues and high maintenance costs—making mass production impractical.

The EBM Advantage for Copper and Copper Alloys

1. High Energy Utilization

Unlike lasers, electron beams are not affected by optical reflectivity. EBM efficiently transfers energy into the copper powder, ensuring stable melting, high density, and excellent process repeatability.

2. Vacuum Processing

EBM operates in a high-vacuum environment (~10⁻³ Pa), preventing oxidation of copper powders during melting. This ensures minimal impurity and oxygen levels, and allows powder reuse across multiple cycles without degradation.

3. Low Residual Stress

Layer-by-layer preheating dramatically reduces thermal gradients, minimizing warping and cracking—especially critical for large or intricate components.

4. High Productivity

With beam power in the kilowatt range and rapid beam deflection, EBM offers faster melting rates and scanning speeds than laser systems—ideal for batch production of large, dense copper parts.

5. Superior Performance

EBM-produced copper and copper-alloy parts exhibit exceptional density, conductivity, and thermal performance, achieving properties beyond traditional manufacturing methods.

6. Design Freedom

EBM enables lightweight, functionally integrated copper components with internal lattices or cooling channels—impossible to achieve using subtractive processes.

Real-World Applications

1. Electric Drives — Motor Windings

3D-printed copper windings allow greater copper fill factors and optimized cooling pathways, reducing rotor losses and enhancing motor efficiency.

2. Advanced Thermal Management — Heat Exchangers and Nozzles

Additive manufacturing enables integrated cooling designs that double cooling performance, reduce weight by ~20%, and boost thermal efficiency by 20%. Engine combustion chambers and nozzles printed as monolithic structures achieve superior heat dissipation while reducing assembly complexity.

3. Induction Coils — Emerging Potential

3D printing eliminates the need for manual bending and welding, solving fatigue cracking issues. This not only extends service life but also allows geometry optimization for improved conductivity and cooling.

Xikong Smart Manufacturing: Leading the Charge

Xi’an Aerospace Electromechanical Intelligent Manufacturing Co., Ltd. (Xikong Smart Manufacturing) is a high-tech enterprise specializing in intelligent 3D printing solutions for aerospace propulsion and new energy systems.

Under its proprietary “i-3D” Smart Additive Manufacturing concept, the company integrates multiple advanced processes—intelligent laser forging, laser/arc hybrid printing, and electron beam point melting (“Three Smart Prints”)—to deliver high-performance, low-cost manufacturing solutions for critical aerospace components.

Using EBM technology, Xikong successfully produced pure copper and copper-alloy parts with outstanding properties:

· Density: ≥ 99.5%

· Tensile strength: ≥ 165 MPa

· Yield strength: ≥ 76 MPa

· Electrical conductivity: ≥ 99% IACS

· Thermal conductivity: ≥ 400 W/(m·K)**

These results underscore the company’s breakthrough in achieving high-performance, near-theoretical-density copper printing, paving the way for next-generation lightweight and high-efficiency components across multiple industries.