24 research outputs found
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PROCESS AND MATERIAL OPTIMISATIONS FOR INTEGRATION OF CHOPPED GLASS FIBRES IN LASER SINTERED POLYMER PARTS
Additively manufactured polymer composites gain popularity in a variety of industries such as aerospace,
biomedical and automotive. Laser sintering (LS) is a well-known AM process that typically uses polyamide which
can serve as matrix material. Hence LS has the potential to produce reinforced polymers that can meet demanding
requirements. In previous research, issues with powder flowability and poor fibre dispersion led to limited
increase of mechanical properties. To overcome this, a novel fibre deposition system was recently developed and
optimised at KU Leuven to successfully produce fibre reinforced LS samples with random inter- and intralayer
fibre orientations. A limited but promising influence of deposited glass fibres on produced LS parts was noted
after mechanical testing. In this work, the influence of different (heat) treatments on glass fibres used during LS
will be discussed as well as the resulting differences in the fibre/matrix behaviour as analysed through hot stage
microscopy.Mechanical Engineerin