# 3D printing yields a metre-tall single crystal of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy in a laboratory demonstration

- Published: 2026-11-11 17:14 UTC
- Section: Machines & Making › Manufacturing
- Tags: single-crystal 3D printing, metre-tall single crystal, Ti-6Al-4V single crystal, creep resistance titanium alloy, single-crystal lattice structures, tungsten molybdenum niobium printing, pulsed heat input, refractory metals 3D printing
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-7ccf39c21e0ac9ae14cef143_3d_printing_yields/

**Authors grew a single crystal a metre tall and a centimetre in diameter using alternating and pulsed heat input. Its creep resistance is an order of magnitude above the grain-size prediction.**

![3D printing yields a metre-tall single crystal of Ti-6Al-4V titanium alloy in a laboratory demonstration](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/195f8fa4f3b2a4da.jpg)
*Techno-Science*

Researchers have reported a free-form additive manufacturing method that produces single-crystal Ti-6Al-4V alloy a metre tall and a centimetre in diameter. The paper is available via doi.org. [1] The method uses alternating and pulsed heat inputs to govern and direct the growth of the crystal. [1]

The same approach was used to print single crystals of tungsten, molybdenum, niobium and MoNb alloys. [1] The work is a laboratory demonstration of the method.

## Crystal growth under cyclic heating

Single-crystal materials are needed for high-performance applications, but conventional manufacturing of them depends on strict quasi-steady thermal conditions. [1] Additive manufacturing involves intense cyclic thermal fluctuations, which conflicts with this requirement. Until now this has prevented 3D printing of large or architected single crystals. [1]

The authors say that carefully controlled alternating and pulsed heat inputs resolve this contradiction. [1] They also report, to their knowledge, the first single-crystal lattice structures with complex zigzag ligaments. [1] According to the authors, the method effectively removes theoretical size constraints for single-crystal components. Simulations in the study were performed with the commercial software FLOW-3D and ABAQUS.

## Creep resistance and refractory metals

The bulk single-crystal Ti-6Al-4V showed an order-of-magnitude increase in creep resistance over standard grain-size scaling predictions. [1] The authors attribute this to two factors acting together. One is the absence of grain boundaries. The other is a hierarchical α/β architecture induced by additive manufacturing, which regulates dislocation density, mobility and void evolution. [1]

Tungsten, molybdenum and niobium are refractory metals that are hard to process. The authors report that single crystals of W, Mo, Nb and MoNb alloys were printed with the same technique. [1] In their words, this expands the accessible materials library and makes possible complex geometries that classical methods could not produce. [1]

## Sources

1. [doi.org](https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-11185-0)
2. [Techno-Science](https://www.techno-science.net/fr/actualites/imprimante-3d-fabrique-cristal-geant-29641)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-7ccf39c21e0ac9ae14cef143_3d_printing_yields/