additive manufacturing – Lightsources.org

New insights into 3D-printed materials for future fusion reactors

2026/05/152026/06/18

Advanced X-ray and neutron experiments at Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY have shed light on how microstructures form in additively manufactured materials for future fusion reactors. The research reveals how, during 3D-printing, unwanted phases arise at the interfaces between different metals – and how these can be influenced by the printing process. The findings are important for understanding how stresses can develop in components and optimising their design.

Additive manufacturing is considered a promising technology for producing components for future fusion reactors. Metal 3D-printing makes it possible to create complex structures, for example breeding blankets or divertors – key components of a fusion power plant. These materials must withstand extreme conditions: high temperatures, strong mechanical stresses and intense radiation. Crucial to their ability to do so is the material microstructure, which develops during the printing process.

Interfaces between tungsten and steel in focus

For 3D-printed components, tungsten is one of the metals particularly well suited to parts exposed to the hot plasma of nuclear fusion reactors. Steels serve as structural materials.

Researchers from Paul Scherrer Institute PSI and Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron DESY investigated samples made of tungsten in combination with a special stainless steel with a characteristic microstructure. The samples were produced using a metal 3D-printing technique known as laser powder bed fusion. In this technique, metal powder is melted layer by layer using a laser and then rapidly solidified, gradually creating a 3D structure.

At the interface between the two materials, complex microstructures can form during the printing process and influence the properties of the components. Using high-resolution X-ray techniques, the team could investigate the crystal structure and distribution of chemical elements within these interface regions to micrometre resolution.

The measurements revealed that an unwanted intermetallic phase made of iron and tungsten forms at the interface. Such phases are detrimental for mechanical stability and potentially also for irradiation resistance of components. The unwanted phase could, they showed, be significantly reduced by adjusting the printing process.

Read more on the PSI website

Image: Material scientist Malgorzata Makowska at the microXAS beamline of the Swiss Light Source SLS

Credit: © Paul Scherrer Institute/Mahir Dzambegovic

New additively manufactured lattice could lead to stiffer and stronger lightweight materials

2026/04/302026/04/30

Researchers have engineered a series of additively manufactured triply-twinned Body‐Centred Cubic (BCCT) lattices that distribute stress more efficiently, enabling lighter structures with significantly improved stiffness, strength, and damage-tolerance. This lattice achieves up to three-fold improved performance compared to conventional lattice architecture. They have studied its structure and how to remove defects using the ESRF’s extremely brilliant source. The results are out in Advanced Materials.

Triply-twinned architected lattices are engineered materials made of repeating 3D structures arranged in a precise pattern. ‘Triply-twinned’ refers to three reflection planes in each unit about which sub-structures are mirrored, giving the structure extra strength under compression. In general, they are made from polymers or metals, depending on the application.

Currently, scientists are exploring them for potential applications where low weight is critical, such as in aerospace, energy and advanced engineering. However, they are not yet common in commercial products, with the main limitation being the manufacturing process.

“We are excited to translate the concept of twinning, normally observed at the atomic scale, into centimetre‑scale architected materials using additive manufacturing. This approach allows us to precisely tailor stiffness, strength, and damage tolerance, opening new opportunities for applications ranging from biomedical implants and heat exchangers to energy‑absorbing components,” says Chu Lun Alex Leung, professor at University College London (UCL) and corresponding author of the publication.

Through the EPSRC International Centre to Centre collaboration: Manufacturing by Design, Leung (work package lead) and his team from UCL, together with scientists at the University of Sheffield and the ESRF have designed, engineered, characterised, and analysed a series of additively manufactured lattices that have shown a successful increase in the stiffness (+380%) and strength (+279%) of materials.

Read more on the ESRF website

Taking additive manufacturing’s heart beat

2018/05/212018/05/22

Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, builds objects by adding layers and it is emerging as a more flexible and reliable way of manufacturing complex structures in the aerospace, engineering and biomedical industries. A British team is at the ESRF’s ID19 to see into the heart of the process and understand it.

“I would not want to ship this equipment on an aeroplane”, Chu Lun Alex Leung said, scientist from the University of Manchester. “It was too precious to leave it in the hands of third parties”, he added. Instead of coming to the ESRF by aeroplane, Leung and his colleagues endured the 12-hour drive in a rental van all the way from Oxfordshire (UK) to the ESRF to make sure their unique equipment arrived safely.

Leung was referring to the laser additive manufacturing (LAM) process replicator, or LAMPR for short, a machine himself and colleagues at the Research Complex at Harwell have developed that 3D prints polymers, metals and ceramics while ESRF’s X-rays probe the heart of the process – the melting and solidification of powders to form complex 3D printed components.

Image: The team on the beamline, next to the laser additive manufacturing (LAM) process replicator. Front row: Margie P. Olbinado, Yunhui Chen. Back row: Sam Tammas-Williams, Lorna Sinclair, Peter D. Lee, Chu lun alex Leung, Samuel Clark, Sebastian Marussi.
Credit: C.Argoud