Title: Smoother and stronger high speed sintered elastomers through surface modification process

Authors: Farhana Norazman; Patrick Smith; Adam Ellis; Neil Hopkinson

Addresses: The University of Sheffield, Centre for Advanced Additive Manufacturing, North Campus Graduate Research Centre, Sheffield S3 7HQ, UK ' The University of Sheffield, Centre for Advanced Additive Manufacturing, North Campus Graduate Research Centre, Sheffield S3 7HQ, UK ' Xaar plc, 316 Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 0XR, UK ' Xaar plc, 316 Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge CB4 0XR, UK

Abstract: High speed sintering is a novel additive manufacturing process which creates parts by employing a combination of inkjet printing and infrared heating to sinter successive layers of polymer powder. This paper investigates the effect of a new surface modification method called the PUSh™ process on the mechanical properties of high speed sintered elastomer. ALM TPE210-S elastomeric powder was used to manufacture specimens, and the PUSh™ process was subsequently performed on selected specimens. Surface roughness and mechanical properties of TPE210-S specimens were measured. The results show that the PUSh™ process reduced surface roughness by 50% from 20 to 10 µm. Finished specimens had 50% higher values of ultimate tensile strength, Young's modulus and elongation at break compared to unfinished specimens, and tear strength was significantly improved by 233%. The process resulted in 3% average part shrinkage while part hardness remains unchanged. Overall, the mechanical properties of high speed sintered TPE210-S elastomer were improved by the PUSh™ process.

Keywords: additive manufacturing; elongation at break; HSS; high speed sintering; mechanical properties; polymer sintering; powder bed fusion; PUSh process; shore hardness; surface modification; surface roughness; surface quality; tear strength; tensile strength; thermoplastic elastomers; Young's modulus; part shrinkage; part hardness.

DOI: 10.1504/IJRAPIDM.2017.082150

International Journal of Rapid Manufacturing, 2017 Vol.6 No.2/3, pp.155 - 169

Received: 14 May 2016
Accepted: 09 Oct 2016
Published online: 08 Feb 2017 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article