Fakultät Maschinenbau
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By Laser Beam Melting of polymers (LBM), parts with almost any geometry can be built directly out of CAD files without the need for additional tools. Thus, prototypes or parts in small series production can be generated within short times. Up to now, no multi-material parts have been built by LBM, which is a major limitation of the technology. To realize multi-material parts, new mechanisms for depositing different polymer powders as well as a new irradiation strategy are needed, by which polymers with different melting temperatures can be warmed to their specific preheating temperatures and be molten simultaneously. This is achieved by simultaneous laser beam melting (SLBM). In the process, two different materials are deposited next to each other and preheated a few degrees below their melting temperatures by infrared emitters and laser radiation (λ = 10.60 µm), before in the last step the two preheated powders are molten simultaneously by an additional laser (λ = 1.94 µm). So far, multi-material tensile bars have been realized and analyzed regarding their boundary zone between both materials. The experiments showed that the temperature gradients in the boundary zone and along the building direction seem to be of great importance for the process stability and the resulting part properties. Therefore, a detailed analysis of the occurring temperature gradients during the process is needed to identify adequate process adjustments regarding the temperature controlling. To analyze the temperature gradients, thermocouples positioned inside the powder bed are used. By varying the temperature of the building platform, the influence of different temperature gradients on the resulting part properties is shown.
Simultaneous laser beam melting (SLBM) allows the direct realization of multi-material components consisting of different polymer materials by a single Additive Manufacturing (AM) process. To achieve a high compound strength between different materials by adhesive bonding, a common boundary zone based on diffusion of the macromolecules is necessary and thus, both materials needs to be compatible regarding their specific adhesion compatibility. However, by SLBM also incompatible polymers can be processed to multi-material parts. If two incompatible polymers are processed, a positive locking between the different materials is necessary to achieve a connection between the materials. The positive locking results of a random mixture process of the different powder materials during the powder deposition process by a two chamber recoater system, which leads to the forming of undercuts of one material in the other during the melting and recrystallization. In this paper, thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) and polypropylene (PP) powders, which are incompatible, are processed to multi-material specimens. By qualifying basic material properties, their influence on the process and especially on the forming of undercuts in the boundary zone is analyzed. To also allow the analysis of the influence of both material and process parameters on the resulting part properties, tensile test specimens are built and their tensile strength is determined. Additionally, cross sections of the boundary zone are prepared and analyzed by microscope images.