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Post-processing
Abstract
All Additive manufacturing (AM) technologies require post-processing to produce parts that are ready for use. This post-processing can range from support material removal, to surface quality improvement, to colouring and painting, and to aging for polymer parts and heat-treatment for metal parts. Throughout the AM industry there is a vast amount of tacit knowledge in the area of post-processing but there, currently, exists very little documentation on the various post-processing methods for different AM technologies and materials. This leads to time being wasted by companies having to individually learn and develop post-processing methods. This chapter aims to correct this.
... The pre-processing steps for all the AM processes are generally the same which include preparing the print job in the software, generating the support structures, and slicing the CAD files. However, the post-processing steps for different AM processes can be very specific based on the method of 3D printing [4,5]. ...
This work addresses the issues of entrapment of polymer powder and the post-processing powder removal challenges in surface-based lattice structures 3D printed with powder bed-based additive manufacturing (AM) technology. A ventilation design approach has been proposed to enhance the powder removability from the widely researched three-dimensional gyroid and two-dimensional honeycomb lattice structure. The flow characteristics and mechanical behavior of the designed lattices were analyzed using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and finite element analysis (FEA), respectively, followed by experimental powder flow and compression testing. HP jet fusion 4200® industrial 3D printer was used for printing the lattice structures for experimental validation. The results showed a 65–85% improvement in powder flowability, with a minimum to severe reduction in mechanical strength of different lattice structures. The study can be applied to designing products with multi-functional properties with surface-based lattice structures by employing the principle of design for additive manufacturing and post-processing (DfAM&PP).
This study evaluates the challenges of powder removal inside surface-based lattice structures that have been fabricated by the polymer-powder-based additive manufacturing (AM) process. The natural flow adaptations of plant cells’ morphology and perforation that allow water and minerals easy transport have been bio-mimicked for ease of powder flow during post-processing powder removal. Vessel-shaped and supportless lattice structures with ventilations have been designed, followed by a Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation. This is to study the fluid flow pattern and turbulence inside the lattice structures. The designed lattice structures were 3d printed with polyamide 12 (PA-12) material by HP-MJF 4200 powder bed technology. They were followed by powder removal using a pressurised air gun and computerised tomography (CT-scan) to observe the regions of trapped powder inside the lattice structures. The uni-axial compression tests were conducted to observe the effect of ventilation on the mechanical properties of the lattice structures.
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