Description
Commercial Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) systems for polymers incorporated with fiber or diode lasers produce parts which have a color of either dark grey or black. Due to the wavelength of these lasers being in between 400nm to 2500nm absorptivity for most nature/white polymer powders available on the market is very low and hence a black optical absorber is incorporated into the material to allow for processing. This work focuses on moving away from black optical absorbers and incorporating an optical absorber which provides a green hue instead. The material used was a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and parts were manufactured using an Open Architecture LPBF system using a 1080nm fiber laser. The process parameters were optimized, and specimens manufactured were tested for their mechanical properties. The current optical absorber can allow for printing with more materials and producing well-formed greenish parts allowing for post-coloring, if needed.| Period | 11 Aug 2024 → 14 Aug 2024 |
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| Event title | The 35th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium |
| Event type | Conference |
| Conference number | 35 |
| Location | Austin, United States, TexasShow on map |
| Degree of Recognition | International |