Preparation and selective laser sintering of nylon-12 coated copper powders
ISSN: 1355-2546
Article publication date: 26 July 2021
Issue publication date: 3 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to prepare metal/polymer composite materials prepared by additive manufacturing (AM) technology.
Design/methodology/approach
The effect of sintering parameters including laser power, scanning speed and slice thickness on strength and accuracy of selective laser sintering (SLS) parts were analyzed experimentally. Then, the laser sintering mechanism of nylon-12 coated copper was discussed through analyzing the interfacial reaction of nylon-12 and copper. The SLS parts were infiltrated with epoxy resin to meet the strength requirements of injection molding.
Findings
In this study, mechanical mixed nylon-12/copper and nylon-12 coated copper composite powders were investigated and compared as SLS materials. An effective dissolution–precipitation method was proposed to prepare nylon-12 coated copper powders with better processing and mechanical properties. The bending strength and modulus of fabricated parts after infiltration with epoxy reach 65.3 MPa and 3,200 MPa, respectively.
Originality/value
The composite materials can be used in the manufacture of injection molds with a conformal cooling channel for the production of common plastics in prototype quantities, showing a broad application prospect in rapid tooling.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51805185), the Hubei Provincial technical innovation major program (No. 2017AAA109), the Wuhan International Collaboration Project (No. 2017030209020252), the Wuhan Science and Technique Foundation (No. 2018010401011281) and Shenzhen Knowledge Innovation Program (No. 20180213102634650).
Citation
Fu, Y., Yan, C., Yang, X., Liu, Z., Chen, P. and Li, Z. (2021), "Preparation and selective laser sintering of nylon-12 coated copper powders", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 27 No. 7, pp. 1355-1362. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-06-2020-0131
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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