High Pressure Spray Process for Polymer Particles applicable for Laser Polymer Deposition (LPD)

该项目的目的是开发和基本了解聚合物粉末生产和加工的两种工艺。该项目开发的技术将允许加工新的聚合物材料，从而为3D增材制造中更广泛的原材料基础奠定基础。使用高压喷涂工艺，生产的聚合物颗粒具有光滑的表面，这不能用已建立的制造工艺生产或仅是非常成本密集的。通过改变高压工艺的工艺参数，有意地改变和调节所生产的聚合物粉末的粒度、颗粒形态和堆积。在新开发的激光聚合物沉积（LPD）工艺中处理所产生的颗粒系统，该工艺基于已建立的激光金属沉积（LMD）。与使用CO2激光器的既定选择性激光烧结（SLS）技术相比，LPD技术依赖于具有成本效益和更节能的固态激光器。因此，通过添加添加剂，聚合物颗粒的光学性质将在约1 μm的激光波长下的吸收方面得到优化。聚合物系统领域的新加工技术可实现更高的加工速度和更低的材料使用。3D增材制造的工艺开发和优化基于对所生产的聚合物组分和粉末的微观和宏观尺度特性的系统分析。差示量热和X射线衍射研究将提供有关聚合物粉末的结晶度和热加工范围的信息。拉伸和弯曲测试显示了聚合物粉末的可加工性，并有助于优化激光工艺以及颗粒生成。将使用热塑性聚氨酯开发用于增材制造的弹性体。在优先计划的第二个项目期，将使用聚乳酸测试可生物降解聚合物，并使用新开发的LPD工艺将聚丙烯作为热塑性大规模产品。此外，LPD工艺将扩展到混合聚合物/金属部件的生产。

The aim of the project is the development and the basic understanding of two processes for the production and processing of polymer powders. The technologies developed in this project will allow to process new polymer materials, thus creating the basis for a broader base of raw materials in 3D additive manufacturing. With a high-pressure spray process polymer particles are produced with smooth surfaces, which cannot be produced with the established manufacturing processes or only very cost intensive. By changing the process parameters of the high-pressure process, particle sizes, particle morphologies and crystallinities of the polymer powders produced are deliberately changed and adjusted. The generated particle systems are processed in a newly developed laser polymer deposition (LPD) process, which is based on the established laser metal deposition (LMD). In contrast to the established selective laser sintering (SLS) technology, which uses CO2 laser, LPD technology relies on cost-effective and more energy efficient solid-state lasers. Therefore, the optical properties of the polymer particles will be optimized with regard to the absorption at the laser wavelength of around 1 µm by adding additives. The new processing technology in the field of polymer systems enables higher processing speeds and lower material usage. Process development and optimization for 3D additive manufacturing is based on systematic analysis of the micro- and macro-scale properties of the polymer components and powders produced. Differential calorimetric and X-ray diffractometric investigations will provide information about the crystallinity and the thermal processing ranges of the polymer powders. Tensile and bending tests show the processability of the polymer powders and help to optimize the laser process as well as the particle generation. With a thermoplastic polyurethane an elastomer will be developed for additive manufacturing.For the second project period of the priority program, a polylactic acid shall be used to test a biodegradable polymer and polypropylene as a thermoplastic mass product with the newly developed LPD process. In addition, the LPD process will be extended to the production of hybrid polymer/metal components.