An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties

The properties of parts manufactured by laser sintering (LS) are, amongst others, influenced by the packing and flow efficiencies of the powders being processed. In particular, this study investigated the influence of the bulk and flow characteristics of two thermoplastic elastomers, present in t...

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Main Authors: Ziegelmeier, Stefan, Christou, Panagiotis, Wöllecke, Frank, Tuck, Christopher, Goodridge, Ruth D., Hague, Richard J.M., Krampe, Erhard, Wintermantel, Erich
Format: Article
Published: Elsevier 2015
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Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44747/
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author Ziegelmeier, Stefan
Christou, Panagiotis
Wöllecke, Frank
Tuck, Christopher
Goodridge, Ruth D.
Hague, Richard J.M.
Krampe, Erhard
Wintermantel, Erich
author_facet Ziegelmeier, Stefan
Christou, Panagiotis
Wöllecke, Frank
Tuck, Christopher
Goodridge, Ruth D.
Hague, Richard J.M.
Krampe, Erhard
Wintermantel, Erich
author_sort Ziegelmeier, Stefan
building Nottingham Research Data Repository
collection Online Access
description The properties of parts manufactured by laser sintering (LS) are, amongst others, influenced by the packing and flow efficiencies of the powders being processed. In particular, this study investigated the influence of the bulk and flow characteristics of two thermoplastic elastomers, present in three different particle size distributions (PSD), on the resulting part properties. The powder characteristics examined, were the packing and bulk density as well as the flow efficiency of the powder samples. The resulting part properties were evaluated in terms of their mechanical properties (tensile), surface quality and density. The results helped to validate the basic input from previous studies interconnecting the powder behaviour with the properties of sintered part's. The majority of the components with increased tensile properties were manufactured with powder fractions that showed enhanced bulk density and enriched flowability. The part's surface quality demonstrated a high dependence on the packing and the surface roughness of the raw powder bulk. A strong connection between the packing density of the powder bulk and the porosity of the sintered parts has been revealed for the observed polymers. In contrast to previous studies which have rarely taken into account the characteristics of the un-sintered powder and correlated them to the properties of components fabricated by LS, this work provided a novel approach describing the interconnection between the powder behaviour and the part properties.
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spelling nottingham-447472020-04-29T15:09:14Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44747/ An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties Ziegelmeier, Stefan Christou, Panagiotis Wöllecke, Frank Tuck, Christopher Goodridge, Ruth D. Hague, Richard J.M. Krampe, Erhard Wintermantel, Erich The properties of parts manufactured by laser sintering (LS) are, amongst others, influenced by the packing and flow efficiencies of the powders being processed. In particular, this study investigated the influence of the bulk and flow characteristics of two thermoplastic elastomers, present in three different particle size distributions (PSD), on the resulting part properties. The powder characteristics examined, were the packing and bulk density as well as the flow efficiency of the powder samples. The resulting part properties were evaluated in terms of their mechanical properties (tensile), surface quality and density. The results helped to validate the basic input from previous studies interconnecting the powder behaviour with the properties of sintered part's. The majority of the components with increased tensile properties were manufactured with powder fractions that showed enhanced bulk density and enriched flowability. The part's surface quality demonstrated a high dependence on the packing and the surface roughness of the raw powder bulk. A strong connection between the packing density of the powder bulk and the porosity of the sintered parts has been revealed for the observed polymers. In contrast to previous studies which have rarely taken into account the characteristics of the un-sintered powder and correlated them to the properties of components fabricated by LS, this work provided a novel approach describing the interconnection between the powder behaviour and the part properties. Elsevier 2015-01-31 Article NonPeerReviewed Ziegelmeier, Stefan, Christou, Panagiotis, Wöllecke, Frank, Tuck, Christopher, Goodridge, Ruth D., Hague, Richard J.M., Krampe, Erhard and Wintermantel, Erich (2015) An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties. Journal of Materials Processing Technology, 215 . pp. 239-250. ISSN 0924-0136 Bulk and flow behaviour Powder processing Laser Sintering Part properties Thermoplastic elastomers https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.07.029 doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.07.029 doi:10.1016/j.jmatprotec.2014.07.029
spellingShingle Bulk and flow behaviour
Powder processing
Laser Sintering
Part properties
Thermoplastic elastomers
Ziegelmeier, Stefan
Christou, Panagiotis
Wöllecke, Frank
Tuck, Christopher
Goodridge, Ruth D.
Hague, Richard J.M.
Krampe, Erhard
Wintermantel, Erich
An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
title An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
title_full An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
title_fullStr An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
title_full_unstemmed An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
title_short An experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
title_sort experimental study into the effects of bulk and flow behaviour of laser sintering polymer powders on resulting part properties
topic Bulk and flow behaviour
Powder processing
Laser Sintering
Part properties
Thermoplastic elastomers
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44747/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44747/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/44747/