SLS surface influence on mechanical properties
Investigation and evaluation of the influence of post-processing on the mechanical properties of laser-sintered plastic components
Project duration
From: 01.01.2020 To: 31.12.2022Description
Laser sintering is increasingly establishing itself as a serious option in the additive manufacturing of series components made of plastic. It is therefore mandatory to fulfil not only visual and haptic desires, but also functional requirements. Regarding component design the focus is often on strength and toughness, including notch or impact resistance. Whether these are affected by standard post-processing like vibratory grinding, blasting, chemical smoothing, laser polishing, colouring and infiltration was systematically investigated. Therefore, the mechanical behaviour was examined as a function of wall thickness, building direction and post-processing. The main results found for polyamide 12 were transferred to polyamide 11 and glass-filled polyamide 12 and validated against them. While the fundamental mechanical behaviour was not affected by the post-processing, the tensile strength of thin-walled laser sintered components tended to be improved by surface smoothing. Nevertheless, the strong influence of the initial building direction in that case remained. Due to the numerous influencing factors, the design of laser sintered plastic components as well as the choice of material, manufacturing technology and post-processing parameters should be made regarding to the required application properties. Their fulfilment should be finally checked, especially when it comes to safety-relevant components.
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