Additive manufacturing for extrusion dies

none2noThe additive manufacturing technology (AM) is considered to be the fourth-industrial revolution allowing to produce «near net» components almost without geometrical constraints. In contrast to conventional, subtractive technologies, additive manufacturing built up the component layer by layer starting from a 3D CAD model [1]. Due to the capabilities of the technology to face with high performance materials with added functionalities and increased complexity in geometrical designs, AM perfectly fits with the requirement of dies, tools and inserts. The AM technologies first developed in 1990s coming to the tools manufacturing some years later. In this context, the first applications were in low impact processes like plastic injection moulding but rapidly entered in metal working process applications like metal forming and die casting [2]. Nowadays, several metallic materials can be processed to full dense parts with outstanding properties, the most important at the industrial scale being represented by steels, aluminium and titanium alloys as well as Ni-based superalloys and CoCr [3,4].mixedReggiani, B.; Donati, L.Reggiani, B.; Donati, L