Development of a Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing Process of 1.2083 steel comprising FFF Printing, Solvent and Thermal Debinding and Sintering

Abstract

In recent years, Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) of feedstock comprising metal powder and a polymer binder system attracted more and more attention as an extrusion-based Additive Manufacturing method. Allowing for the production of intricate geometries at reasonably low cost, FFF and subsequent debinding and sintering is an attractive solution for producing complex parts made of metals or ceramics. This study investigates the FFF, debinding and sintering process chain for 1.2083 (AISI 420) tool steel. The effect of printing temperature, printing speed and filament feed rate on the density of the green body was evaluated. With regard to the subsequent solvent debinding the required time for complete binder removal was determined as a function of the maximum part thickness. Based on a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) the decomposition behavior of the remaining insoluble binder was monitored and accordingly a temperature program for the thermal debinding was derived. The sintering curve was determined by dilatometry. Finally, the capability of the process is demonstrated by manufacturing an impeller geometry and examining the resulting microstructure and hardness of the material.