The Role of Roller Rotation Pattern in the Spreading Process of Polymer/Short-Fiber Composite Powder in Selective Laser Sintering

In this study, for the first time, a forward-rotating roller is proposed for the spreading of CF/PA12 composite powder in the selective laser sintering (SLS) process. The mesoscopic kinetic mechanism of composite particle spreading is investigated by utilizing the “multi-spherical” element within the discrete element method (DEM). The commercial software EDEM and the open-source DEM particle simulation code LIGGGHTS-PUBLIC are used for the simulations in this work. It is found that the forward-rotating roller produces a strong compaction on the powder pile than does the conventional counter-rotating roller, thus increasing the coordination number and mass flow rate of the particle flow, which significantly improves the powder bed quality. In addition, the forward-rotating pattern generates a braking friction force on the particles in the opposite direction to their spread, which affects the particle dynamics and deposition process. Therefore, appropriately increasing the roller rotation speed to make this force comparable to the roller dragging force could result in faster deposition of the composite particles to form a stable powder bed. This mechanism allows the forward-rotating roller to maintain a good powder bed quality, even at a high spreading speed, thus providing greater potential for the industry to improve the spreading efficiency of the SLS process.

[1]  Meng Li,et al.  Hierarchical effects of multi-layer powder spreading in the electron beam powder bed fusion additive manufacturing of pure tungsten material , 2022, Additive Manufacturing.

[2]  M. Baba.  Flatwise to Upright Build Orientations under Three-Point Bending Test of Nylon 12 (PA12) Additively Manufactured by SLS , 2022, Polymers.

[3]  J. Segurado,et al.  Micromechanical characterization of the material response in a PA12-SLS fabricated lattice structure and its correlation with bulk behavior , 2022, Polymer Testing.

[4]  Q. Wei,et al.  Dynamics of short fiber/polymer composite particles in paving process of additive manufacturing , 2021 .

[5]  A. Yu,et al.  Powder deposition mechanism during powder spreading with different spreader geometries in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing , 2021, Powder Technology.

[6]  E. Franco-Urquiza,et al.  Mechanical Properties of Hybrid Carbonized Plant Fibers Reinforced Bio-Based Epoxy Laminates , 2021, Polymers.

[7]  Ain Umaira Md Shah,et al.  Physical, Mechanical, and Morphological Properties of Hybrid Cyrtostachys renda/Kenaf Fiber Reinforced with Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT)-Phenolic Composites , 2021, Polymers.

[8]  Yanis A Gueche,et al.  Investigating the Potential Plasticizing Effect of Di-Carboxylic Acids for the Manufacturing of Solid Oral Forms with Copovidone and Ibuprofen by Selective Laser Sintering , 2021, Polymers.

[9]  Shengqiang Jiang,et al.  Comparison of roller-spreading and blade-spreading processes in powder-bed additive manufacturing by DEM simulations , 2021, Particuology.

[10]  A. Yu,et al.  Effects of spreader geometry on powder spreading process in powder bed additive manufacturing , 2021 .

[11]  Wentao Yan,et al.  Oriented structure of short fiber reinforced polymer composites processed by selective laser sintering: The role of powder-spreading process , 2021 .

[12]  Wentao Yan,et al.  Packing quality of powder layer during counter-rolling-type powder spreading process in additive manufacturing , 2020 .

[13]  J. Schneider,et al.  Multiscale characterization and constitutive parameters identification of polyamide (PA12) processed via selective laser sintering , 2020 .

[14]  C. Coetzee.  Calibration of the discrete element method: Strategies for spherical and non-spherical particles , 2020 .

[15]  Wenguang Nan,et al.  Numerical simulation of particle flow and segregation during roller spreading process in additive manufacturing , 2020, Powder Technology.

[16]  Wenguang Nan,et al.  Jamming during particle spreading in additive manufacturing , 2018, Powder Technology.

[17]  Dichen Li,et al.  High temperature rheological behavior and sintering kinetics of CF/PEEK composites during selective laser sintering , 2018, Composites Science and Technology.

[18]  Wolfgang A. Wall,et al.  Critical Influences of Particle Size and Adhesion on the Powder Layer Uniformity in Metal Additive Manufacturing , 2018, Journal of Materials Processing Technology.

[19]  D. Lin,et al.  A review on additive manufacturing of polymer-fiber composites , 2017 .

[20]  Zhongwei Li,et al.  Flow behavior of powder particles in layering process of selective laser melting: Numerical modeling and experimental verification based on discrete element method , 2017 .

[21]  Sina Haeri,et al.  Optimisation of blade type spreaders for powder bed preparation in Additive Manufacturing using DEM simulations , 2017 .

[22]  Y. Lo,et al.  Analysis of Scattering and Absorption Characteristics of Metal Powder Layer for Selective Laser Sintering , 2017, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics.

[23]  J. Kruth,et al.  Effect of PA12 powder reuse on coalescence behaviour and microstructure of SLS parts , 2017 .

[24]  C. Yan,et al.  A novel method based on selective laser sintering for preparing high-performance carbon fibres/polyamide12/epoxy ternary composites , 2016, Scientific Reports.

[25]  John G. Michopoulos,et al.  Discrete element modeling of particle-based additive manufacturing processes , 2016 .

[26]  Paul W. Cleary,et al.  A multiscale method for including fine particle effects in DEM models of grinding mills , 2015 .

[27]  Chao Deng,et al.  Influence of carbon nanotubes coatings onto carbon fiber by oxidative treatments combined with electrophoretic deposition on interfacial properties of carbon fiber composite , 2015 .

[28]  Patrice Peyre,et al.  Experimental and numerical analysis of the selective laser sintering (SLS) of PA12 and PEKK semi-crystalline polymers , 2015 .

[29]  Stefan Pirker,et al.  Hybrid parallelization of the LIGGGHTS open-source DEM code , 2015 .

[30]  D. Drummer,et al.  Characterization of Polymer Materials and Powders for Selective Laser Melting , 2014 .

[31]  Etienne Barthel,et al.  Adhesive elastic contacts: JKR and more , 2008 .

[32]  Yutaka Tsuji,et al.  Lagrangian numerical simulation of plug flow of cohesionless particles in a horizontal pipe , 1992 .

[33]  P. Cundall,et al.  A discrete numerical model for granular assemblies , 1979 .

[34]  S. Haeri,et al.  Discrete element simulation and experimental study of powder spreading process in additive manufacturing , 2017 .

[35]  T. Pöschel,et al.  Particle-based simulation of powder application in additive manufacturing , 2016 .

[36]  Paul Langston,et al.  Distinct element modelling of non-spherical frictionless particle flow , 2004 .

[37]  Rémy Glardon,et al.  Optimization of powder layer density in selective laser sintering , 1999 .