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Orthotropic properties of cement-filled polyamide 12 manufactured by selective laser sintering

Saleh Ahmed Aldahash (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia)
Abdelrasoul M. Gadelmoula (Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, Majmaah University, Al-Majmaah, Saudi Arabia and Department of Mechanical Engineering, Assiut University, Assiut, Egypt)

Rapid Prototyping Journal

ISSN: 1355-2546

Article publication date: 30 April 2020

Issue publication date: 19 June 2020

122

Abstract

Purpose

The cement-filled PA12 manufactured by selective laser sintering (SLS) offers desirable mechanical properties; however, these properties are dependent on several fabrication parameters. As a result, SLS prototypes may exhibit orthotropic mechanical properties unless properly oriented in build chamber. This paper aims to evaluate the effects of part build orientation, laser energy and cement content on mechanical properties of cement-filled PA12.

Design/methodology/approach

The test specimens were fabricated by SLS using the “DTM Sinterstation 2000” system at which the specimens were aligned along six different orientations. The scanning speed was 914mm/s, scan spacing was 0.15mm, layer thickness was 0.1mm and laser power was 4.5–8Watt. A total of 270 tensile specimens, 270 flexural specimens and 135 compression specimens were manufactured and the tensile, compression and flexural properties of fabricated specimens were evaluated.

Findings

The experiments revealed orientation-dependent (orthotropic) mechanical properties of SLS cement-filled PA12 and confirmed that the parts with shorter scan vectors have enhanced flexural strength as compared with longer scan vectors. The maximum deviations of ultimate tensile strength, compressive strength and flexural modulus along the six orientations were 32%, 26% and 36%, respectively.

Originality/value

Although part build orientation is a key fabrication parameter, very little was found in open literature with contradictory findings about its effect on mechanical properties of fabricated parts. In this work, the effects of build orientation when combined with other fabrication parameters on the properties of SLS parts were evaluated along six different orientations.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments: Manufacturing of test specimens and mechanical characterization were carried out at the Manufacturing Engineering Centre in Cardiff University (UK); the authors are grateful to the sincere efforts of Professor Duc Pham throughout this research work.Funding: The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Majmaah University for supporting this work under Project Number No. R-1441-89.

Citation

Aldahash, S.A. and Gadelmoula, A.M. (2020), "Orthotropic properties of cement-filled polyamide 12 manufactured by selective laser sintering", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 26 No. 6, pp. 1103-1112. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-07-2019-0191

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

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