Morphology development of physical polymer mixtures in sintering based processing technologies

聚合物烧结技术被用于制造尺寸从米到微米的零件，基于粉末的熔融结合，具有简单或复杂的结构。旋转成型是这一领域较为成熟的技术，而选择性激光烧结3D打印技术还处于起步阶段。这两种方法形成的产品往往很难或不可能通过其他聚合物加工方法。然而，这两种材料都没有剪应力，这对使用这些技术选择的材料造成了限制，这反过来又使它们被排除在依赖更先进性能的市场之外。北美拥有全球最大的旋转模塑制造商集中度，3D打印方法被认为是加拿大高科技经济不可或缺的一部分，这使得这两种方法对我们的制造业具有战略重要性。我们提高了它们在需要更先进性能的市场部门完成的能力，这对加拿大是有益的。**为了满足新应用的需求，聚合物混合物经常结合在一起，形成复杂的相形态。两种或两种以上聚合物的稳定共混形态通常是在剪切应力和拉伸应力存在的情况下产生的。在没有剪切应力的情况下，旋转成型和选择性激光烧结(SLS)的选择只能是使用预复合材料，这会增加相当大的成本，或者考虑一种鲜为人知的替代方案，即通过烧结聚合物的物理混合物来形成混合物。这项建议将通过烧结物理混合物来增加行业对这种更便宜的替代方案的理解，并将其发现与预先合成的材料进行比较。研究的目的是确定通过控制组成、粘度比、树脂相容性、结晶度和颗粒堆积密度来产生理想共混形态的方法。其目的是提供一个统计模型，工业赞助商和其他人可以使用该模型来预测最终性能，因为它们与形成的形态有关。

Polymer sintering technologies are used to manufacture parts of dimensions ranging from metres to microns, with simple or complex structures, based on the melt coalescence of powders. Rotational molding is the more mature technology in this area where 3D printing by selective laser sintering is still emerging. Both methods form products that are often difficult or impossible by other polymer processing approaches. However, the absence of shear stresses in both has created limitations on the materials selected with these technologies, which has in turn kept them out of markets reliant on more advanced properties. North America has the largest concentration of rotational molding manufacturers globally and 3D printing methods are considered integral to Canada's high technology economy, making both strategically important to our manufacturing sector. It is beneficial to Canada that we advance their capabilities to complete in market sectors where more advanced properties are demanded.** Broadening the properties to satisfy the needs of new applications, mixtures of polymers are often combined to form complex phase morphologies. Stable blend morphologies of two or more polymers are commonly produced in the presence of shear and elongational stresses. With an absence of shear stresses, the options for rotational molding and selective laser sintering (SLS) are only to use pre-compounded materials, which add considerable costs, or to consider a poorly understood alternative where physical mixtures of polymers are sintered to form a blend. This proposal will increase the industry's understanding of this less expensive alternative by sintering a physical mixture and will compare its findings to pre-compounded materials. The goal of the studies is to identify approaches whereby desirable blend morphologies arise by controlling composition, viscosity ratio, resin compatibility, crystallinity and particle packing density. The intent is to deliver a statistical model which the industrial sponsor and others may use to predict final properties as they are related to the morphology formed.