When to pick this combination
L-PBF CuCrZr is the dominant route for printed combustion-chamber liners, regen-cooled rocket-engine sections, and conformal heat sinks for power electronics. The precipitation age recovers ~75% of wrought-copper conductivity (~80% IACS) while retaining usable strength.
- Rocket combustion-chamber liners with regen cooling
- Power-electronics conformal heat sinks
- Induction-heating workhead liners
- Thermal-management housings
Typical defects and how the model accounts for them
Pure copper reflects ~90% of standard near-IR laser energy, making it borderline unprintable on legacy machines. CuCrZr's Cr and Zr additions raise absorptivity enough to print on green-laser or high-power IR systems. Density depends critically on machine class.
Required post-processing
The allowables above assume the full post-processing chain. Skipping any step degrades the row by 15–35 %.
- Stress relief: 350 °C / 2 h / Ar
- Solution: 980 °C / 1 h / WQ
- Age: 480 °C / 3 h / AC
- Machine sealing flanges
- Verify IACS conductivity on coupon
Suggested build parameters
Starting recipe; tune against first-article inspection on geometry-sensitive features.
- Layer: 30 μm
- Laser: ≥ 400 W (green) or ≥ 700 W (IR)
- Scan: 600 mm/s
- Hatch: 80 μm
- Build plate: 200 °C
Frequently asked questions
What conductivity should I plan for?
Aged L-PBF CuCrZr lands at 75–82% IACS, vs ~85% IACS for wrought. The remaining gap is residual porosity and minor lack-of-fusion.
Sources
- UNS C18150 specification
- Jadhav, S. D. et al. (2019). Influence of selective laser melting process parameters on Cu microstructure. Materialia 7.