Influence of energy input on degradation behavior of plastic components manufactured by selective laser melting

Additive manufacturing techniques, such as selective laser melting of plastics, generate components directly from a CAD data set without using a specific mold. High building chamber temperatures in combination with long building times lead to physical and chemical degradation of the surrounding powder and the manufactured component in the case of selective laser melting of polyamide 12 (PA12). Thus the following investigations show the influence of energy densities on mechanical properties as well as on the aging behavior of the manufactured components. Therefore several building processes with varying energy densities will be conducted. Aged polymer components were analyzed with physical, thermo analytical and mechanical methods with regards to their process relevant material properties. Considered material properties for example are phase transition temperatures, melting viscosity or molecular weight. The basic understanding of the influence of energy input on material properties will lead to new process strategies with minimized polymer degradation.