TY - GEN

T1 - Feedstock Development for Material Extrusion of Aluminium: Printability and Debinding

AU - Schuschnigg, Stephan

AU - Momeni, Vahid

AU - Kukla, Christian

PY - 2024/11/21

Y1 - 2024/11/21

N2 - Metal material extrusion (MMEX) is a fabrication method that involves the progressive deposition of metallic materials in distinct layers. This process is followed by debinding and sintering, ultimately resulting in the formation of fully dense metallic structures. The sintering temperature of aluminium (Al) alloys is relatively low, which approaches the degradation temperature of the polymers employed and needs special sintering regimes. Additionally, the binder systems utilized in this rocess must fulfil several criteria, including filament flexibility, appropriate rheological properties, and satisfactory performance during the debinding process. Consequently, the development of an effective binder system that satisfies all these requirements presents significant challenges. In this study, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) as the backbones along with thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) as the soluble part of the binder system were used in the feedstock. Filaments with a powder loading of 55 vol.% were successfully produced from the feedstocks, and their printability was assessed. Rheological analysis was performed to evaluate the flow characteristics of the feedstocks, ensuring their suitability for the printing process. Additionally, the thermal properties,including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), were conducted to compare the degradation behaviour of the various binder systems.

AB - Metal material extrusion (MMEX) is a fabrication method that involves the progressive deposition of metallic materials in distinct layers. This process is followed by debinding and sintering, ultimately resulting in the formation of fully dense metallic structures. The sintering temperature of aluminium (Al) alloys is relatively low, which approaches the degradation temperature of the polymers employed and needs special sintering regimes. Additionally, the binder systems utilized in this rocess must fulfil several criteria, including filament flexibility, appropriate rheological properties, and satisfactory performance during the debinding process. Consequently, the development of an effective binder system that satisfies all these requirements presents significant challenges. In this study, polypropylene (PP) and polyethylene (PE) as the backbones along with thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) as the soluble part of the binder system were used in the feedstock. Filaments with a powder loading of 55 vol.% were successfully produced from the feedstocks, and their printability was assessed. Rheological analysis was performed to evaluate the flow characteristics of the feedstocks, ensuring their suitability for the printing process. Additionally, the thermal properties,including thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), were conducted to compare the degradation behaviour of the various binder systems.

M3 - Conference contribution

VL - 32

SP - 132

BT - 32nd Leoben-Conference on Polymer Engineering and Science

CY - Leoben

T2 - 32. Leobener Kunststoffkolloquium - 32nd Leoben-Conference on Polymer Engineering and Science 'New Materials – New Perspectives'

Y2 - 21 November 2024 through 22 November 2024

ER -