Rheological assessment of cohesive energy density of highly concentrated stereolithography suspensions

Abstract

The structures of viscous, highly concentrated suspensions used in stereolithography tend to have varying states of flocculation. This phenomenon is directly related to the interparticle spacing and the interparticle forces. The interparticle spacing impacts the depth of cure behavior of the suspensions. In this study, the interparticle forces were determined using the cohesive energy density model. A relationship between particle size distribution of dry powders and cohesive energy density was established. The results showed that the interparticle interactions, size, and coalescence of particles in stereolithography suspensions can be described by the cohesive energy density measurement. It was established that there was no relationship between the cohesive energy density and depth of cure behavior.