Influence of Processing Parameters on Tensile Properties of SLS Polymer Product

Abstract

Polymer products manufactured by additive processes are today increasingly flooding the market. Given that they have broad application ranging from various consumer products to medicine and automotive industry, the products must satisfy certain mechanical properties. In the past studies of selective laser sintering (SLS) for polymer materials, the processing parameter of energy density has been confirmed which affects the tensile properties. Energy density depends on the laser beam speed, laser power and hatch distance; however, in this paper the existing mathematical model has been expanded by the overlay ratio and tests have been conducted how on the basis of the new mathematical model a product with good tensile properties (tensile strength, tensile strength at break, tensile modulus, tensile strain at break) can be manufactured. However, in parameter selection as well, the layer thickness and the manufacturing strategy also play a role, and they may shorten the time and reduce the cost necessary to manufacture a new product from the initial concept to production. The paper also provides a proposal of processing parameters (laser beam speed, laser power and energy density) depending on the manufacturing strategy and layer thickness.

Correlation of Process Parameters with Mechanical Properties of Laser Sintered PA12 Parts

“…Pilipović et al [8] and Wegner and Witt [4] showed that the layer thickness has a very large influence on the part properties. An increase of layer thickness resulted in a decrease of the part density and the tensile properties and therefore recommend to strive for a layer thickness as thin as possible.…”

Microstructure and properties of n-type Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric material fabricated by selective laser sintering

“…In order to investigate the influence of these three factors on powder forming, an orthogonal experiment of three factors and three levels was designed. According to [19], the reasonable scanning speed ranges from 2700 mm s −1 to 3300 mm s −1 . The reasonable variation range of the laser scanning power can be then roughly estimated.…”

Mode I Fracture Toughness of Polyamide and Alumide Samples obtained by Selective Laser Sintering Additive Process

“…Some authors have focused their work on the geometrical accuracy of samples obtained at different orientations and/or energy density by measuring the size and shape and inspecting the surface of the parts by stereomicroscopy [11][12][13] without taking into account the mechanical aspects that are directly influenced by the process parameters. The mechanical characterization of SLS polymer parts was conducted through tensile tests by some authors [14], while in other studies flexural properties were determined according to the manufacturing parameters [15,16]. However, the process parameters greatly influence the mechanical properties of the samples.…”