Bending Properties of Lightweight Copper Specimens with Different Infill Patterns Produced by Material Extrusion Additive Manufacturing, Solvent Debinding and Sintering

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

External Organisational units

  • Center of Digitalisation, Research and Development, Fill GmbH
  • RHP Technology GmbH

Abstract

Material extrusion additive manufacturing (MEX) is a versatile technology for producing complex specimens of polymers, ceramics and metals. Highly-filled filaments composed of a binder system and a high-volume content of sinterable powders are needed to produce ceramic or metal parts. After shaping the parts via MEX, the binder is removed and the specimens are sintered to obtain a dense part of the sintered filler particles. In this article, the applicability of this additive manufacturing process to produce copper specimens is demonstrated. The particular emphasis is on investigating the production of lightweight specimens that retain mechanical properties without increasing their weight. The effect of infill grades and the cover presence on the debinding process and the flexural properties of the sintered parts was studied. It was observed that covers could provide the same flexural strength with a maximum weight reduction of approximately 23%. How-ever, a cover on specimens with less than 100% infill significantly slows down the debinding process. The results demonstrate the applicability of MEX to produce lightweight copper specimens.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number7262
JournalApplied Sciences : open access journal
Volume11
Issue number16
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Aug 2021