The Virtual Foundry Invented Bound Metal 3D Printing Filament with a unique process/material called Filamet™

1. Filament Production: The Virtual Foundry creates a special type of metal filament by mixing a binder with metal powder. This mixture is extruded into a spool of filament that can be used in any standard 3D printer.
2. Print: The filament is then loaded into a 3D printer and used exactly like any other PLA in common FFF 3D printers. However, instead of printing with pure plastic, the printer lays down layers of metal-infused binder. The binder acts as a temporary support structure and holds the metal particles in place.
3. Debind: After printing, the part is placed in a kiln like those found in schools and heat-treatment facilities and countless other environments, this removes the binder leaving behind a porous metal structure.
4. Sinter: The print is then raised to a higher temperature, causing the metal particles to fuse together and form a solid metal part. This phase of the process densifies the metal, resulting in a final part that is dense and strong

Published Research Papers as of March 2023

As of early 2023, the number of academic papers referencing The Virtual Foundry by name exceeds 150. The number of Dissertations, thesis, capstone, and general research is accelerating at an unprecedented pace. This outlet is now the fastest growing and most thorough source of process and procedural information for printing and processing The Virtual Foundry’s rapidly growing list of printable materials. These are no longer limited to Metal, but have grown to include hard materials from many areas of the Periodic Table.
The list is growing quickly. Clicking this link will take you to a fresh search of https://scholar.google.com for papers relating to The Virtual Foundry. If you have research you would like to add, we encourage you to reach out.

A few Examples:

1. “Additive Manufacturing of Copper-Based Metal Matrix Composites using Fused Filament Fabrication: Effect of Firing Temperature on Microstructure and Mechanical Properties” by Bhaskar Dhiman and others. This paper discusses the use of Bound Metal Filament to create copper-based metal matrix composites using FFF 3D printing and analyzes the effect of firing temperature on the resulting microstructure and mechanical properties of the parts.
2. “Metal 3D Printing: Bound Metal Deposition Process and Performance Evaluation” by Hangjian Zhou and others. This paper describes the development of a Bound Metal Deposition (BMD) process, which is a modification of FFF 3D printing that uses Bound Metal Filament to create metal parts. The authors evaluate the performance of the BMD process and compare it to traditional metal 3D printing methods.
3. “Processing and Characterization of Stainless Steel 316L Parts Fabricated by Fused Filament Fabrication” by Ying Liu and others. This paper describes the use of Bound Metal Filament to create stainless steel 316L parts using FFF 3D printing and analyzes the resulting microstructure and mechanical properties of the parts.