Recycling of battle-damaged metal scrap

The goal of the project was to find out whether battle-damaged or otherwise decommissioned metal parts can be used directly as raw material in powder production, and further, made spare parts by 3D printing from the produced powder, to be used for national defense needs in a crisis situation. The concept could enable the production of some critical spare parts relatively quickly in a situation where, for example, material deliveries have slowed down significantly. The concept was experimentally piloted on a small scale. Five different materials were selected for the study, whose composition was analyzed and whose 3D printability was evaluated with a test that imitates the conditions of laser-based powder bed fusion. Three of these materials were chosen for powder production, and two further for printing experiments. Finally, one material was used to demonstrate the manufacturing of a demonstration piece and the basic material properties. Based on the results, the proposed concept would seem to be technically feasible, but implementation in a relevant, clearly larger scale would require the development of the infrastructure and processes.