Not Just nylon… improving the range of materials for high speed sintering

High Speed Sintering (HSS) is an emerging, recently commercialised Additive Manufacturing (AM) process which uses an infrared absorbing ink and infrared lamp to selectively sinter layers of polymer powder. Currently, Nylon 12 and its composites are used as the default feedstock due to their large processing windows. However, to meet the increasing variety of end use applications afforded by the benefits of AM, a wider range of materials must be developed. This work presents the characterisation and testing of a new elastomeric material for use in HSS. Parts were produced over a range of processing conditions, varying key parameters such as part bed temperature, ink density and lamp speed. Performance indicators including powder recovery, surface roughness and tensile data were evaluated over the range of conditions tested and all indicated the material’s suitability for use as an HSS material.