Experimental Study on Metal Parts under Variable 3D Printing and Sintering Orientations Using Bronze/PLA Hybrid Filament Coupled with Fused Filament Fabrication

Abstract

Producing metal parts from Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing coupled with a metal/polymer hybrid filament, considering the advantages of high-performance and low cost, has generated considerable research interest recently. This paper addresses the studied relationship between variable printing/sintering directions and the properties of the sintered metal parts. It was shown that the printing directions played a significant role in determining the properties of final products, such as shrinkage, tensile stress, and porosity. The shrinkage in the layer direction because of anisotropic behavior is more minor than in the other dimensions. The microstructural analysis indicated that the printing directions had influenced the form and position of porosity on the produced metal parts. Most porosities occurred on the surfaces printed parallel to the printing bed. Furthermore, the sintering orientations had no possible benefits for dimension shrinkage, weight shrinkage, density, and porosity position of produced metal parts. However, the sintering direction “upright” resulted in parting lines inside the sintered tensile samples and made them fragile. The best printing-sintering combination was “on-edge-flat”.

The Mechanical Properties of Thin-Walled Specimens Printed from a Bronze-Filled PLA-Based Composite Filament Using Fused Deposition Modelling

“…The aim of the research discussed in [21] was to determine the relationships between the variable printing/sintering directions and the properties of the sintered metal specimens. The printing was performed using fused filament fabrication (FFF) from a metal bronze/PLA hybrid filament.…”

Unlocking the Alchemy: An Analysis of Stainless Steel Creation via Fused Filament, De-Binding, and Sintering

“…The study [13] understudied how variable printing and sintering orientations interact with one another and how this affects the qualities of the nal sintered metal pieces. Metal pieces are printed using FFF 3D technology using a hybrid metal/polymer lament.…”

Optimizing metal part distortion in the material extrusion-thermal debinding-sintering process: An experimental and numerical study

“…Metal injection molding (MIM) is one of the most common processes for metal production and has been widely applied in mechanical engineering and the automotive industry [ [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] ]. Nonetheless, the process has some significant limitations, particularly when it comes to manufacturing metal parts in small batches or with complex geometries.…”