Selective Laser Sintering of High-Temperature Thermoset Polymer

oleh: Md Sahid Hassan, Kazi Md Masum Billah, Samuel Ernesto Hall, Sergio Sepulveda, Jaime Eduardo Regis, Cory Marquez, Sergio Cordova, Jasmine Whitaker, Thomas Robison, James Keating, Evgeny Shafirovich, Yirong Lin

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2022-01-01

Deskripsi

Thermoplastic materials such as PA12 and PA6 have been extensively employed in Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) 3D printing applications due to their printability, processability, and crystalline structure. However, thermoplastic-based materials lack polymer inter-chain bonding, resulting in inferior mechanical and thermal properties and relatively low fatigue behavior. Therefore, 3D printing of high-performance crosslinked thermosets using SLS technology is paramount to pursue as an alternative to thermoplastics. In this work, a thermoset resin was successfully 3D printed using SLS, and its thermal stability of printed parts after a multi-step post-curing process was investigated. Dimensionally stable and high glass transition temperature (T<sub>g</sub>: ~300 °C) thermoset parts were fabricated using SLS. The polymer crosslinking mechanism during the printing and curing process was investigated through FTIR spectra, while the mechanical stability of the SLS 3D-printed thermoset was characterized through compression tests. It is found that 100% crosslinked thermoset can be 3D printed with 900% higher compressive strength than printed green parts.