Abstract
Composites have the potential to enhance the mechanical properties of components fabricated by additive manufacturing; however, the bottleneck is the limited number of polymeric composite powders available for this manufacturing process. This paper describes a generically new method to create composite powders that are suitable for High Temperature Laser Sintering (HT-LS). C-coated Inorganic Fullerene-like WS2 (IF-WS2) nanoparticles and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) have been chosen to demonstrate their incorporation into a high performance polymer matrix: Poly Ether Ether Ketone (PEEK). The morphological and physical property investigations have confirmed that the resulting composite powders exhibit the desired particle morphology, size, distribution and flowability for HT-LS applications. Further preliminary sintering results have demonstrated that they are comparable to the currently available commercial grade of PEEK powder HT-LS applications in terms of powder packing properties and flow ability. The new strategy reported here brings in great potential for the additive layer manufacturing of high performance polymeric composite components with improved mechanical and added functionalities by choosing the proper matrix and filler combination.
Highlights
Laser Sintering (LS) can produce complex parts directly from computer-aided design data, without the involvement of any expensive mould tooling [1], this technology has attracted great research attention
A new, cost-effective and environmentally friendly technique has been developed for the creation of various novel composite powders that are suitable for High Temperature Laser Sintering (HT-LS) additive layer manufacturing
Microstructural characterizations have confirmed that the Inorganic Fullerene-like WS2 (IF-WS2) and graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) nanofillers were encapsulated inside the Poly Ether Ether Ketone (PEEK) matrix, and that the surface of the composite particles was smooth and round, which makes them potentially suitable for HT-LS applications
Summary
Laser Sintering (LS) can produce complex parts directly from computer-aided design data, without the involvement of any expensive mould tooling [1], this technology has attracted great research attention. Incorporating various nanofillers into the PEEK matrix during HT-LS could further improve the mechanical properties and introduce crucial functionalities for different advanced applications. Modifying the melt compounded polymer into powder form with appropriate particle size and morphology requires following up milling or other size reduction processes that are very energy consuming and costly, needless to say the huge challenges for obtaining powders of round shape and proper size distribution by milling, especially for high performance polymers, such as PEEK [13]. Inorganic fullerene-like tungsten disulphide (IF-WS2) is another interesting nanoparticles with hollow core and layered shell morphology Such a unique microstructure brings in exceptional lubricating and wear resistant properties, and extraordinary shock-absorbing properties for ultimate protections, triggered us to incorporate it as nanofiller into the PEEK matrix. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that this method is used to prepare composite powders suitable for Laser Sintering. We will further demonstrate their suitability for HT-LS
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