Abstract
The range of selective laser sintering (SLS) materials is currently limited, and the available materials are often of high cost. Moreover, the mechanical strength of wood–plastic SLS parts is low, which restricts the application of a SLS technology. A new composite material has been proposed to address these issues, while simultaneously valorizing agricultural and forestry waste. This composite presents several advantages, including reduced pollution associated with waste disposal and reduced CO2 emission with the SLS process in addition to good mechanical strength. In this article, a novel and low-cost Prosopis chilensis/polyethersulfone composite (PCPC) was used as a primary material for SLS. The formability of PCPC with various raw material ratios was investigated via single-layer experiments, while the mechanical properties and dimensional accuracy of the parts produced using the various PCPC ratios were evaluated. Further, the microstructure and particle distribution in the PCPC pieces were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The result showed that the SLS part produced via 10/90 (wt/wt) PCPC exhibited the best mechanical strength and forming quality compared to other ratios and pure polyethersulfone (PES), where bending and tensile strengths of 10.78 and 4.94 MPa were measured. To improve the mechanical strength, post-processing infiltration was used and the PCPC-waxed parts were enhanced to 12.38 MPa and 5.73 MPa for bending and tensile strength.
Highlights
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a three-dimensional (3D) additive manufacturing (AM) technology that was first proposed by Deckard in 1988 [1,2,3,4,5]
The technique involves the use of a laser beam to directly fuse a powdered raw material over a large area, where successive layers are deposited based on a three-dimensional stereolithography (STL)-formatted computer-aided design (CAD) model developed without expensive equipment [6,7]
The excellent formability of the Prosopis chilensis/polyethersulfone composite (PCPC) parts was demonstrated in single-layer sintering tests, which was attributed to the bonding interface between the Prosopis chilensis powder (PCP) and PES particles (Figure 7)
Summary
Selective laser sintering (SLS) is a three-dimensional (3D) additive manufacturing (AM) technology that was first proposed by Deckard in 1988 [1,2,3,4,5]. The technique involves the use of a laser beam to directly fuse a powdered raw material over a large area, where successive layers are deposited based on a three-dimensional stereolithography (STL)-formatted computer-aided design (CAD) model developed without expensive equipment [6,7]. A wide variety of powdered raw materials can be fused and melted during laser sintering [6,7,8,9]. SLS technology is rapidly developing and has been used in a variety of composite product applications, including wood-based materials and investment casting. To further improve the SLS technology, there is a growing need to research and develop novel materials, as well as to investigate the effects of particle size and mixture ratios on the mechanical properties of sintered parts [21,22,23]
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