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Qualification and modification of new polymer powders for laser beam melting using Ulbricht spheres
(2014)
The restricted amount of available materials for Laser Beam Melting (LBM) of polymers is one of the main limitations for expanding the technology. Current qualification methods deal with problems like inadequate powder flowability or high part porosities among others but do not offer a detailed analysis of the important beam-matter-interaction between powder particles and electro-magnetic laser radiation. In this paper, polyethylene powder is qualified for the LBM process and specifically analyzed regarding the optical material properties of the powder for a wavelength of 10.6 μm. By admixing graphite as absorption intensifier the change of the optical material properties and the thereby connected processing parameters are analyzed. Furthermore an explanation approach is given to explain the relation between different transmittances of different powder particles and the optical material properties of the polymer powders.
By simultaneous laser beam melting (SLBM), different polymer powders can be processed to multi-material parts, which offers the potential to enlarge the field of application for conventional LBM. In a SLBM process, a powder bed consisting of different polymers and therefore with different melting and crystallization temperatures is deposited. Besides the use of infrared emitters for preheating the lower melting polymer, a CO2 laser distributes the necessary preheating temperature of the higher melting polymer. In the last step, a thulium fibre laser distributes the energy necessary for melting the two preheated powders simultaneously. In order to analyze the temperature gradients of the process on the powder surface and in deeper layers, a high-resolution thermal imaging system and thermocouples are used.
Die Energieeinbringung in Form von elektromagnetischer Strahlung in das Pulverbett beim selektiven Laserstrahlschmelzprozess von Kunststoffen wird maßgeblich durch das Absorptionsverhalten der Pulverwerkstoffe bestimmt. Aufgrund von Vielfachreflexionen an den einzelnen Pulverpartikeln in den Poren weisen Pulverwerkstoffe im Vergleich zu makroskopischen Festkörpern andere Absorptionseigenschaften auf. Im vorliegenden Beitrag wird daher ein geeigneter Messaufbau zur Bestimmung der optischen Materialeigenschaften von verschiedenen Pulverwerkstoffen vorgestellt. Mittels eines Ulbricht-Kugel-Messaufbaus wird der Reflexions-, der Transmissions- und der Absorptionsgrad von pulverförmigen Werkstoffen bei einer Wellenlänge von 10,6 µm eines CO2-Lasers und unterschiedlichen Schichtstärken ermittelt. Neben den Werkstoffen Polyamid 12 und Polyethylen im reinen Zustand werden Mischungen mit Additiven, wie beispielsweise Graphit, analysiert und verglichen. Durch die Beimischungen kann eine für den Schmelzprozess zu geringe Absorption des reinen Kunststoffes wie im Fall von Polyethylen-Pulver bei einer Wellenlänge von 10,6 µm gezielt erhöht werden, wodurch die Entwicklung neuer Pulverwerkstoffe erleichtert wird.
By using Additive Manufacturing technologies, like Laser Beam Melting (LBM) of polymers, parts can be realized within single days and necessary modifications can be quickly adapted. With increasing complexity, products are often made out of different polymer materials and the need for multi-material parts is an increasing industry requirement, which cannot be fulfilled by the single material parts realizable by LBM. Therefore, Simultaneous Laser Beam Melting (SLBM) as a new Additive Manufacturing technology offers the possibility to build parts consisting of different polymer materials. The realizable parts combine different material properties, like differing stiffness or chemical resistances, within a single part. Up to now, different materials are deposited next to each other on the building platform, thus the boundary surface between the different polymers is orientated perpendicular to the building direction. For this paper, the polymer powders are alternated in building direction. Thus, the boundary surface is orientated horizontally and is larger, both influencing the boundary surface and resulting part properties, which are analyzed by a high-resolution thermal imaging system and by cross sections.
In this paper, the use of electrostatic polymer powder transfer methods for the preparation of multi-material layers is discussed with respect to the application in Simultaneous Laser Beam Melting (SLBM). Therefore, the basic principles of the single process steps as well as the challenges in combination with SLBM are considered verifying the critical process steps. On that base, process concepts are developed which might enable the fabrication of high quality multi-material parts in the future. Moreover, since the polymer powders typically used with Laser Beam Melting differ strongly from common toners for e. g. electrophotographic printing, an experimental setup was built to study the powder transfer with an electrically chargeable transfer plate using polyamide 12 powder. The results of this study show that transfer of powders usable for Laser Beam Melting can be achieved, but depends on the electric field strength which is a function of the gap between transfer and substrate plate and the intermediate electric potential.
In former works, the optical material properties of different polymer powders used for Laser Beam Melting (LBM) at room temperature have been analyzed. With a measurement setup using two integration spheres, it was shown that the optical material properties of polymer powders differ significantly due to multiple reflections within the powder compared to solid bodies of the same material. Additionally, the absorption behavior of the single particles shows an important influence on the overall optical material properties, especially the reflectance of the powder bed. Now the setup is modified to allow measurements at higher temperatures. Because crystalline areas of semi-crystalline thermoplastics are mainly responsible for the absorption of the laser radiation, the influence of the temperature increase on the overall optical material properties is analyzed. As material, conventional polyamide 12 and polypropylene as new polymer powder material, is used. By comparing results at room temperature and at higher temperatures towards the melting point, the temperature-dependent optical material properties and their influence on the beam-matter interaction during the process are discussed. It is shown that the phase transition during melting leads to significant changes of the optical material properties of the analyzed powders.
In this report, the delivery of polyamide 12 (PA 12) powder and powder layer preparation by vibrating steel nozzles is investigated and discussed with respect to its application for laser beam melting. Therefore, a setup was realized which includes a steel nozzle attached to a piezo actor as well as a positioning system. In order t o investigate the mass flow characteristics in dependency on the applied vibration state, a weighing cell is used enabling time-resolved mass flow measurements. Moreover, single-layer patterns consisting of colored and uncolored polyamide 12 were created and characterized regarding surface homogeneity and selectivity before as well as after the melting of the powder layers by a hot plate.
The generation of multi-material components using Laser beam melting (LBM) is a challenge which requires the invention of new coating devices for the preparation of arbitrary powder patterns. One solution is the usage of vibration-controlled nozzles for selective deposition of polymer powders. Powder flow can be initiated by vibration even when using powders with low flowability. In this report, the selective deposition of polymer powder by vibrating nozzles is investigated with respect to their application in LBM machines. Therefore, a steel nozzle attached to a piezo actor is applied, whereas the nozzle itself features internal channels which allow the precise control of the powder temperature using heat transfer oil. The setup is used to study the influence of temperature on the powder mass flow. The results show that, next to the vibration mode, the temperature strongly influences the powder mass flow which is done by affecting the moisture and thus the particle-particle adhesion forces. This shows that a precise control of the powder temperature inside the nozzle is required in order to achieve a constant mass flow and thus a successful application of vibrating nozzles inside LBM machines.
By simultaneous laser beam melting (SLBM), parts consisting of different polymer powders can be additively manufactured within one building process. Besides the advantages of conventional LBM, e.g., not needing additional tools and being able to realize parts with almost any geometry, different product requirements can be achieved within a single part. Product requirements may be different chemical resistances or haptic material properties. Therefore, SLBM enlarges the application field for additive manufacturing in general. In the process, two different materials are deposited on the building platform and preheated a few degrees below the melting temperature of the lower melting polymer by infrared emitters. Afterward, a CO2 laser (λ = 10.6 μm) provides the energy for the temperature difference between the preheating temperatures of both materials. Finally, a digital light processing chip is used to achieve simultaneous and flexible energy deposition for melting both preheated polymers. By illuminating the chip with a laser, parts of the beam can be flexibly guided onto the powder bed or into a beam trap. As laser, a single mode thulium laser (λ = 1.94 μm) is used. After melting the layer, a new layer is deposited and the process starts anew. In this paper, polypropylene and polyamide 12 are used as materials. After analyzing the material and melting behavior during the process by a high-resolution thermal imaging system, the parts are qualified regarding their material compatibility at the boundary zone and porosity by cross sections.
The generation of multi-material components by laser beam melting (LBM) is a challenge which requires the invention of new coating devices for preparation of arbitrary powder patterns. One solution is the usage of vibration-controlled nozzles for selective deposition of polymer powders. Powder flow can be initiated by vibration enabling a start-stop function without using any mechanical shutter. In this report, the delivery of polymer powder by vibrating nozzles is investigated with respect to their application in LBM machines. Therefore, a steel nozzle attached to a piezo actor and a weighing cell is used in order to measure the stability and time-dependence of the powder mass flow upon vibration excitation with the usage of different kind of powder formulations. The results show that precompression of the powder inside the nozzle by vibration excitation is essential to realize a reliable start-stop function with reproducible discharge cyles and to prevent a initial flush of powder flow. Moreover, the use of different powder materials showed that mass flow is even possible with powders which are not optimized regarding flowability, but is readily enhanced with a factor of 2 to 3 by admixing Aerosil® fumed silica.
Abstract — In this report, the dry delivery of polyamide 12 (PA 12) powder for the preparation of powder layers in laser beam melting (LBM) is investigated. Therefore, an experimental setup was built which consists of a glass nozzle assembled on a piezo-electric actuator. By applying a sinusoidal voltage signal to the actuator, the nozzle is set into vibration mode which enhances the powder delivery through the nozzle. By using this effect, powder mass flow is controlled and a valve-like start and stop function is realized. In order to identify suitable process parameters, a broad range of vibration modes were investigated using two nozzles made from glass with different orifice diameters. Therefore, the vibration frequency and the voltage signal of the actuator were varied and the resulting mass flow was detected by a balance. It was found that both the frequency and the voltage signal affect the mass flow and its stability but with different impact. Moreover, powder lines were deposited with different velocities in order to characterize the setup regarding applicability for highly selective powder deposition for LBM.
By selective laser sintering (SLS), polymer powders are molten layer by layer to build conventional prototypes or parts in small series with geometrical freedom that cannot be achieved by other manufacturing technologies. The SLS process is mainly defined by the beam–matter interaction between powder material, laser radiation and different material characteristics by itself. However the determination of these different material characteristics is problematic because powder material imposes certain requirements that cannot sufficiently be provided by conventional measurement methods. Hence new fundamental investigation methods to determine the optical and thermal material characteristics like the thermal diffusivity, thermal conductivity, or the influence of different heating rates on the melting behavior are presented in this paper. The different analysis methods altogether improve the process of understanding to allow recommendations for the future process controlling.
In this paper, first results regarding the realization of multi-material parts by Simultaneous Laser Beam Melting (SLBM) of polymers are presented. This new approach allows the layerwise generation of parts consisting of different polymer materials within one building process. Besides the typical advantages of additive manufacturing technologies, such parts can fulfill different product requirements concomitant and therefore could enlarge the overall field of application. The powder materials used for this paper are polyethylene (PE) and a polyamide based thermoplastic elastomer (TPE). After depositing the powder materials next to each other, infrared-emitters heat the lower melting polymer and a CO2 laser provides the preheating temperature of the higher melting polymer. In the last step, a thulium fibre laser melts the two preheated powders simultaneously. The realized specimens are characterized by cross sections and their tensile strengths are determined. Additionally, the new approach of the simultaneous energy irradiation is investigated using a Finite Element Analysis in order to gain a more profound process understanding. In that sense, the influence of the size of the exposure area on the reachable maximum temperatures inside that area was analyzed by the simulation and compared to experimental studies.
In this report, the dry delivery of polyamide 12 powders by vibrating capillary steel nozzles is investigated and discussed regarding its potential for powder layer preparation in Laser Beam Melting. Therefore, a setup including a steel nozzle assembled on a piezoelectric actuator is presented, which enables the precise control over very small powder quantities by vibration excitation. An analysis reveals that the mass flow through the nozzle can be adjusted by the vibration modes in a certain range depending on the nozzle's specifications, whereas the vibration modes themselves show a complicated behaviour. Using a positioning system in combination with the vibrating nozzle, single-layer patterns consisting of polyamide 12 are produced and characterized regarding surface homogeneity and selectivity using a laser stripe sensor.
In this paper, first results regarding the realization of laser-based hot-melt bonding of additive manufactured plastics parts to metal sheets for strong and tight multi-material joints are presented. Compared to earlier investigations, in which nearly solely extruded plastic materials were applied, the use of additive manufactured plastics complements the research field with a promising approach. Besides the typical advantages of multi-material joints regarding weight reduction and high strengths, such parts can meet the needs of constructional freedom and the avoiding of tool costs. Materials used for this paper are aluminum (AlMg3), stainless steel (1.4301) and polyamide 12 (PA12). The performed experiments resulting in multi-material joints between metal and polyamide. The realized specimens undergo a tensile shear test and a tightness test, in which the characteristics of the joints are determined.
The use of thermoplastics in lightweight construction is continuing to grow. This implies the need for suitable joining techniques to combine thermoplastics with other materials, such as metals, to gain tailored multi-material parts. In this paper latest results of experimental investigations on laser-based hot-melt bonding and injection molding for laser-structured metal plastic hybrids are presented. As materials stainless steel and short-fiber reinforced polyamide are used. The stainless steel surface is structured with a nanosecond pulse laser before joining to improve the mechanical adhesion between the dissimilar materials. Thereby, different structure depths in the range between 16.6 ± 1.2 µm and 66.5 ± 2.5 µm as well as different hatch distances between 70 and 300 µm are realized. The laser-based joining process is carried out irradiating the metallic surface multiple times. Positioned below the metal in T-joint configuration, the thermoplastic melts as a result of heat transfer and acts as hot-melt cohesive. Besides, hybrid joints are manufactured using injection molding. For experiments, the mold temperature as well as the melt temperature are varied. Regardless of the joining process, the hybrid joints are mechanically characterized by tensile tests. The results demonstrate that for both joining processes strong laser-structured metal plastic hybrids can be realized.