Assessment of mechanical properties and flammability of magnesium oxide/PA12 composite material for SLS process

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose and develop PA2200-based composite powder containing 0-15 Wt.% magnesium oxide before directly using it in selective laser sintering (SLS) machine to produce end-use products for low-volume production in the engineering applications with keen focus to meet the functional requirements which rely on material properties. Design/methodology/approach The methodology reported emphasises PA2200-based composite powder containing 0-15 Wt.% magnesium oxide development for SLS process which starts with preparation and characterisation of composite material, thermal and rheological study of composite material to decide optimum process parameters for SLS process machine to get optimal part properties. Further, to verify composite material properties, a conventional casting methodology is used. The composition of composite materials those possessing good properties are further selected for processing in SLS process under optimal processing parameters. Findings The process parameters of SLS machine are material-dependent. The effect of temperature in X-ray diffraction profile is negligible in the case of magnesium oxide reinforced PA2200 composite material. The cyclic heating of material increases melting point temperature, this grounds to modify part bed temperature of material every time before processing on SLS machine to uphold build part properties, as well as material. With the rise in temperature, the Melt flow index and rheological property of materials change. The magnesium oxide reinforced PA2200 composite material has high thermal stability than pure PA2200 material. By the addition of small quantity of magnesium oxide, most of the mechanical property and flammability property improves while elongation at break (percentage) decreases significantly. Practical implications The proposed PA2200-based composite powder containing 0-15 Wt.% magnesium oxide material development system and casting metrology to verify developed material properties will be very useful to develop new composite material for SLS process with use of less material. The developed methodology has proven, especially in the case where non-experts or student need to develop composite material for SLS process according to the property requirement of applications. Originality/value Unlike earlier composite material development methodology, the projected methodology of polymer-based composite material and confirmation of material properties instead of commencing SLS process provides straight forward means for SLS process composite materials development with less use of the material and period of time.

Effects of various processing parameters on the mechanical properties and dimensional accuracies of Prosopis chilensis/PES composites produced by SLS

“…All materials that can be either melted or fused can be used for SLS (Yuan et al , 2016; Kim and Creasy, 2004; Zekovic et al , 2005). Laser sintering is primarily used for the processing of composite materials, ceramics, metals and polymers (Leach et al , 2019; Tiwari et al , 2019; Yu et al , 2018). SLS is superior to other technologies such as 3-D printing because it produces complex geometric parts without an expensive tool; furthermore, the unsintered powder after SLS can be reused, and the sintered parts are more dimensionally accurate than those produced by other technologies (Li et al , 2020; Idriss et al , 2020b).…”

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Post-Processing of Prosopis Chilensis/Polyethersulfone Composite (PCPC)

“…The unsintered materials are reusable and recyclable, and the manufactured parts are often more accurate than those produced using other techniques. SLS can be applied widely for the manufacture of construction, medical, automobile, and industrial products, where composite materials and nanocomposite can be used [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. SLS technology is rapidly developing and has been used in a variety of composite product applications, including wood-based materials and investment casting.…”

Sintering quality and parameters optimization of sisal fiber/PES composite fabricated by selective laser sintering (SLS)

“…3,4 Therefore, SLS technology has been widely applied in manufacturing, such as the casting parts, aerospace, medical treatment, automotive, and construction purposes. 5,6 For the current discussion, the term sintering will be understood to involve the localized fusing and melting powder particles include poly-(ether sulfone) (PES) powder and sisal fiber powder (SFP).…”