Anil K. Sachdev¹, Tyson Brown¹; ¹General Motors Global Research & Development

While metal additive manufacturing is presenting itself as a disruptive technology, displacing the well-optimized manufacturing processes of the automotive sector will require several innovations to address the key showstoppers. One of these is materials, which need to be designed for additive manufacturing to exploit the fast heating and cooling rates afforded by the process. However, phase diagrams and associated thermodynamic databases routinely used for traditional processes do not generally extend to, for example, laser printing, where the volume of material being melted and solidified is several orders of magnitude lower than castings.This talk will address alloy development opportunities with specific focus on low-cost powder (and chemistries) for high tonnage of material used, the need for high integrity components, among others. The need for advanced simulation tools which incorporate the nuances of the process and standards which can harmonize multiple material and equipment suppliers will be emphasized.