| About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2023 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF Symp 2023)
|
| Symposium
|
2023 Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium (SFF Symp 2023)
|
| Presentation Title |
Powder Bed Fusion of Polypropylene-ethylene Co-polymers |
| Author(s) |
Jackson S. Bryant, Michelle Pomatto, Robert Moore, Michael Bortner, Christopher Williams |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Jackson S. Bryant |
| Abstract Scope |
Polypropylene has proven challenging to process in powder bed fusion (PBF) technologies. This work uses flash DSC to demonstrate how the crystallization kinetics in polypropylene-ethylene copolymers slow down with increasing ethylene content. Slower crystallization kinetics enable more time for the coalescence of polymer particles such that the mechanical properties frequently expected from polypropylenes – impact resistance, flexibility – improve. However, the addition of the ethylene copolymer results in a much smaller processing window due to widening of the melting endotherm. A series of PP-PE copolymers with 1 – 5 wt% ethylene content were compared to a PP homopolymer samples. It was possible to process all samples and the higher ethylene content samples resulted in higher extensions at break. However, the broader melt endotherm narrowed the usable bed temperature for copolymer samples, which frequently resulted in problems during powder recoating at higher z-heights and much longer layer times. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Definite: Post-meeting proceedings |