Statistical Investigation on Dispersion Quantification for H13 Steel Particle-Filled Polymer Composite 3D Printed Feature
摘要
Considering many applications, metal additive manufacturing (MAM) is significantly advancing every day. In terms of energy and cost, the current direct MAM methods, like powder bed fusion (PBF) and directed energy deposition (DED), are quite expensive. The alternative method is known as indirect MAM, and it prints the feature using a feedstock (often a filament) made of metal particles and an appropriate binder. The final metallic product is produced by de-bonding and sintering the printed component. Since particle agglomeration will result in dimensional instability of the sintered item, the particle distribution plays an important role in this process. In the present work, three important quantification metrics known as D-index, COVd, and dispersion percentage (D) are discussed, which quantify the metal particle dispersion within a polymer matrix. In the present work, a cubic feature of side 12 mm is printed with H13 metal particle-filled polymer filament. The said metrics are calculated at three different locations, and average values of D-index: 0.61542 and COVd: 0.28805 are reported. The results are compared to the limiting values and found that the particles are not agglomerated. The part is then thermally de-bonded and sintered successfully with an average linear shrinkage of 16.67%. The post-sintering material integrity is verified by conducting indentation hardness at different locations, and an average indentation hardness of 3.87 GPa is reported. This study helps metal 3D printing industry to produce structurally integral parts. This pre-assessment acts as a checkpoint before sintering and prevents the end product’s dimensional instability.