A Comparative Investigation of Sintering Methods for Polymer 3D Printing Using Selective Separation Shaping (SSS)
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Abstract
Selective Separating Shaping (SSS) is a novel additive manufacturing process which is capable of processing polymeric, metallic, ceramic and cementitious materials. In earlier experiments, the capabilities of SSS in fabrication of metallic, ceramic, cement-based and polymeric parts have been demonstrated. The focus of this research has been on exploration of sintering methods in SSS for successful fabrication of polymeric parts. The SSS machine has been used to build specimens made of polyamide (PA6) material. Bonds between layers under two different thermal sintering methods are investigated to achieve better control over shrinkage and maintain effective binding between layers. ImageJ platform and binary surface plots have been used for image processing and evaluating final porosity under each heating mechanism. Further investigations are carried out on properties of the base materials and the choice of sintering mechanism to further improve resolution of final parts.