Abstract
AbstractA novel plasma source (HelixJet) for use in additive manufacturing (AM)/3D printing is proposed. The HelixJet is a capacitively coupled radio frequency plasma with a double‐helix electrode configuration that generates a surprisingly stable and homogeneous glow plasma at low flow rates of argon and its mixtures at atmospheric pressure. The HelixJet was tested on three polyamide powders usually used to produce parts by laser sintering, a powder‐based AM process, to form local deposits. The chemical composition of such plasma‐printed samples is compared with thermally produced and laser‐sintered samples with respect to differences in morphology that result from the different thermal cycles on several length scales. Plasma prints exhibit unique features attributable to the nonequilibrium chemistry and to the high‐speed heat exchange.
Highlights
In additive manufacturing (AM) free form parts are fabricated by automatic deposition of multiple consecutive layers of material directly from a three‐dimensional (3D) computer‐aided design (CAD) file, removing the need for moulds or machining.[1]
A confinement of the powder particle beam in the centre of the jet was achieved by the laminar gas flow, the discharge stability and by a radially and axially homogenous plasma
These conditions led to a Gaussian thickness profile of single‐dose deposits on the mm‐length‐scale with a combination of chemical and morphological structures expected to benefit mechanical performance
Summary
In additive manufacturing (AM) free form parts are fabricated by automatic deposition of multiple consecutive layers of material directly from a three‐dimensional (3D) computer‐aided design (CAD) file, removing the need for moulds or machining.[1]. The results above demonstrate how the process conditions can be adjusted and predicted from a combination of modelling, accessible parameters such as the flow rate and power coupled into the plasma
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