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Additive Manufacturing (AM), commonly referred to as 3D printing, is gaining popularity as a viable prototyping technique and highly customized components of complex structures. Customized OEM Service copper motorcycle parts
Effects of heat treating 3D metal parts
Metal 3D printed parts often require a heat treatment step after fabrication. It reduces the internal stresses formed during manufacturing and can change the microstructure of the part. This microstructural change alters certain properties such as toughness, hardness, etc. Among them, one method of thoroughly densifying 3D printed metal parts to reduce porosity is hot isostatic pressing (HIP).
The HIP process requires placing the 3D finished product in a pressure vessel and then filling it with an inert gas, usually argon. The pressure is continuously increased and can exceed the yield strength of the component while maintaining high temperatures. With rapid quenching, the more complex HIP process employs adjustable cooling and heating rates and pressure levels to precisely tune the quality and tensile properties of machined parts.
What does heat treatment do for polymer 3D printed parts? Customized OEM Service copper motorcycle parts
A wide variety of complex geometries can be precisely fabricated through 3D printing, however, it has one major disadvantage, which is the need for thermal post-processing. These 3D printed parts have poor mechanical properties compared to parts produced by injection molding. Insufficient adhesion between coated filaments and stacked layers can lead to poor mechanical properties of 3D printed components.
The latest research, published in the journal Polymers, focuses on improving mechanical properties, especially tensile and compressive strength. The researchers used PETG filaments with a diameter of 1.75 mm for the study. The results showed that the tensile strength of the polymer 3D printed components increased significantly after heat treatment. As a result, the heat-treated parts had quite good tensile strength, with the fully treated parts showing 41.1% higher strength in the horizontal direction than the untreated sample and 143.9% higher in the vertical direction than the control. Destructive compressive testing showed a significant increase in compressive strength values for the heat-treated specimens, with a compressive stress as high as 118 MPa. This study successfully revealed the positive effect of post-fabrication heat treatment of polymer materials.
Heat Treating 3D Printed Polypropylene Parts for Vacuum Systems
The latest research in the Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing investigates the feasibility of applying a heat treatment process to encapsulate 3D printed polypropylene under vacuum conditions. Studies have found that heat treatment is very effective for the packaging process.
The researchers overlaid the part printed at 98% infill and sealed after heat treatment for 15 iterations, with an average of 0.4 m Torr and a 95% confidence interval of 0.2 m Torr. The study found success using a 400°C, 55-second heat gun to seal vacuum-sensitive surfaces, increasing the minimum vacuum pressure achieved. Customized OEM Service copper motorcycle parts
Does heat treatment affect the dimensional stability of 3D printed components?
The researchers published a study in Composites Part A examining the effect of heat treatment on the stability and tensile properties of 3D printed continuous carbon fiber (CCF) reinforced composites. Morphological changes and dispersion of the printed layers were used to evaluate the dimensional stability of the samples. 3D printing technology is based on a fused filament fabrication (FFF) method known as continuous filament fabrication (CFF).
C-CCFRC and S-CCFRC are the names used for samples enhanced with concentrated and separated CCF layers, respectively. After heat treatment at 100°C and 150°C, CCFRCs exhibited excellent tensile properties, although dimensional stability was better at 100°C, especially for S-CCFRC. The matrix crystallinity increased from 17.42% in the untreated sample to 22.76% in the 100 C heat-treated sample, an increase of 30.65%. The study also found that heat treatments at 100°C and 200°C reduced the permeability of the specimens. The lower permeability trend of the matrix after heat treatment is commensurate with its size shift. Therefore, heat treatment up to 100 °C greatly improves the dimensional stability of the samples.
△ Thermal deformation diagrams of CCFRC with different layer number distributions: (a) C-CCFRC and (b) S-CCFRC before heat treatment; (c) C-CCFRC and (d) S-CCFRC after heat treatment at 200 °C for 4 hours.
The effect of heat treatment on PLA parts?
Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a popular additive manufacturing technique, of which PLA is the most widely used material. In their latest study, published in Polymers, the researchers evaluated the performance of PLA parts by 3-point bending tests after heat treatment and by varying build orientation, layer thickness, and speed. Customized OEM Service copper motorcycle parts
The researchers used PLA filaments with a diameter of 1.75 mm. The xz fabrication configuration, nozzle temperature of 190°C to prevent specimen breakage, and optimal printing parameters are a speed of 90 mm/s and a layer thickness of 0.3 mm. A thermal post-treatment of 75°C on samples fabricated using these settings showed an increase in bending stress. Finally, the results show that elastic deformation and recovery during heat treatment do not significantly limit the maximum force. The research shows that orthoses can be 3D printed flat and then twisted to match the desired area of the human body. Customized OEM Service copper motorcycle parts