Effects of Particle Size on Mechanical Properties and Forming Accuracy of Prosopis chilensis Powder/Polyethersulfone Composites Produced via Selective Laser Sintering.

Wood-plastic composites are becoming increasingly recognized for their sustainability and their potential for use in various production processes. Nevertheless, enhancing their mechanical strength continues to be a difficult challenge. The objective of this research was to improve the mechanical strength of wood-plastic composite components manufactured through selective laser sintering (SLS). This was achieved by integrating a sustainable composite material, Prosopis chilensis (PCP), with polyethersulfone (PES) to form a composite referred to as PCPC. This study showcased the effect of various PCP particle sizes on mechanical strengths, dimensional accuracies (DAs), and surface roughness of PCPC parts manufactured using AFS-360 SLS. Single-layer sintering was employed to assess PCPC powder's formability with varying PCP particle sizes, and various tests were conducted to understand the materials' thermal properties and analyze particle dispersion and microstructure. The results demonstrated that PCP particle sizes ≤ 0.125 mm significantly enhanced the mechanical strength, forming quality, and DA compared to other particle sizes and pure PES. Key findings for PCPC parts with PCP ≤ 0.125 mm included a bending strength of 10.78 MPa, a tensile strength of 4.94 MPa, an impact strength of 0.91 kJ/m2, and a density of 1.003 g/cm3. Post-processing further improved these parameters, confirming that optimizing PCP particle size is crucial for enhancing the mechanical properties and overall quality of PCPC parts produced via SLS.

Influence of Particle Size on the Mechanical Performance and Sintering Quality of Peanut Husk Powder/PES Composites Fabricated through Selective Laser Sintering.

This study intends to enhance the mechanical strength of wood-plastic composite selective laser sintering (SLS) parts by using a sustainable composite, peanut husk powder (PHP)/poly ether sulfone (PES) (PHPC). The study aims to address agricultural waste pollution by encouraging the eco-friendly utilization of such waste in SLS technology. To ensure the sintering quality and mechanical properties and prevent deformation and warping during sintering, the thermo-physical properties of PHP and PES powders were analyzed to determine a suitable preheating temperature for PHPC. Single-layer sintering tests were conducted to assess the formability of PHPC specimens with varying PHP particle sizes. The study showed the effects of different PHP particle sizes on the mechanical performance of PHPC parts. The evaluation covered various aspects of PHPC SLS parts, including mechanical strength, density, residual ash content, dimensional accuracy (DA), and surface roughness, with different PHP particle sizes. The mechanical analysis showed that PHPC parts made from PHP particles of ≤0.125 mm were the strongest. Specifically, the density bending strength, residual ash content, tensile, and impact strength were measured as 1.1825 g/cm3, 14.1 MPa, 1.2%, 6.076 MPa, and 2.12 kJ/cm2, respectively. Notably, these parameters showed significant improvement after the wax infiltration treatment. SEM was used to examine the PHP and PES powder particles, PHPC specimen microstructure, and PHPC SLS parts before and after the mechanical tests and waxing. Consequently, SEM analysis wholly confirmed the mechanical test results.

Selective Laser Sintering Parameter Optimization of Prosopis Chilensis/Polyethersulfone Composite Fabricated by AFS-360 SLS.

The current available selective laser sintering (SLS) materials are often high in cost and limited in variety; the mechanical properties of wood-composite SLS parts are low quality, which restricts the development of SLS technology. This article aims to optimize the SLS processing parameters to enhance the mechanical properties of the Prosopis chilensis powder (PCP)/polyethersulfone (PES) composite (PCPC) part fabricated via SLS. The PCP and PES powder were proposed as the feedstock of the PCPC powder bed for SLS. First, the thermal decomposition and glass transition temperatures (Tg) of PCP and PES powder were estimated to reduce the produced PCPC parts from warping and deformation during SLS. An orthogonal experimental methodology with five factors and four levels was used to optimize the SLS parameters for the PCPC SLS test. The scanning speed, preheating temperature, and laser power are selected as the main affecting factors on this study. The influence of these factors on dimension accuracies, bending and tensile strengths, and surface roughness quality of the produced PCPC parts was studied. The PCPC particle distribution and microstructure were inspected via scanning electron microscopy. Furthermore, the synthesis weighted scoring methods were utilized to determine the optimal SLS processing parameters of the produced PCPC parts. The combined results of tests showed that the optimal SLS parameters were as follows: the scanning speed is 1.8 m/s, preheating temperature is 80°C, and the laser power is 12 W. Thus, the quality of PCPC SLS parts was significantly enhanced when the optimal parameters were utilized in the SLS process. This article provided the main reference values of SLS parameters of the PCPC. To further enhance the surface roughness quality and mechanical strengths, the postprocessing infiltration with wax was introduced; after wax infiltration, the surface roughness and mechanical strengths were significantly improved.

Improved Sintering Quality and Mechanical Properties of Peanut Husk Powder/Polyether Sulfone Composite for Selective Laser Sintering.

Current wood-plastic materials available for selective laser sintering (SLS) are limited and often suffer from low-quality and mechanical strength. In this study, a new composite of peanut husk powder (PHP)/polyether sulfone (PES) was developed for SLS additive manufacturing (AM). To use the biomass waste materials in AM technology, such as furniture and wood flooring, this composite based on agricultural waste is environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and low in production cost. SLS parts made from PHPC had good mechanical strength and excellent dimensional precision (DP). The thermal decomposition temperature of composite powder components and the glass transition temperatures of PES and various PHPC were determined first to prevent the PHPC parts from warping during sintering. Furthermore, the formability of PHPC powders in various mixing ratios was examined through single-layer sintering; and the density, mechanical strength, surface roughness, and DP of the sintered parts were measured. Particle distribution and microstructure of the powders and the SLS parts (both before and after breakage in mechanical tests) were inspected using scanning electron microscopy. According to the combined results, a ratio of PHP/PES = 10/90 (w/w) resulted in the best forming quality and mechanical strength compared with other ratios and pure PES. The measured density, impact strength, tensile strength, and bending strength for this PHPC are 1.1825 g/cm3, 2.12 kJ/cm2, 6.076 MPa, and 14.1 MPa, respectively. After wax infiltration, these parameters were further improved to 2.0625 g/cm3, 2.96 kJ/cm2, 7.476 MPa, and 15.7 MPa, respectively.

Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) and Post-Processing of Prosopis Chilensis/Polyethersulfone Composite (PCPC).

The range of selective laser sintering (SLS) materials is currently limited, and the available materials are often of high cost. Moreover, the mechanical strength of wood-plastic SLS parts is low, which restricts the application of a SLS technology. A new composite material has been proposed to address these issues, while simultaneously valorizing agricultural and forestry waste. This composite presents several advantages, including reduced pollution associated with waste disposal and reduced CO2 emission with the SLS process in addition to good mechanical strength. In this article, a novel and low-cost Prosopis chilensis/polyethersulfone composite (PCPC) was used as a primary material for SLS. The formability of PCPC with various raw material ratios was investigated via single-layer experiments, while the mechanical properties and dimensional accuracy of the parts produced using the various PCPC ratios were evaluated. Further, the microstructure and particle distribution in the PCPC pieces were examined using scanning electron microscopy. The result showed that the SLS part produced via 10/90 (wt/wt) PCPC exhibited the best mechanical strength and forming quality compared to other ratios and pure polyethersulfone (PES), where bending and tensile strengths of 10.78 and 4.94 MPa were measured. To improve the mechanical strength, post-processing infiltration was used and the PCPC-waxed parts were enhanced to 12.38 MPa and 5.73 MPa for bending and tensile strength.