Physico-chemical behaviour of Poly (Ether Ketone) (PEK) in High Temperature Laser Sintering (HT-LS)

• First investigation into laser sintering of virgin and used polyether ketones (PEKs) using a bespoke high temperature selective laser sintering system.
• The incorporation of 30% used PEK powder led to an approximately 17% drop in tensile strength.
• The use of a higher laser power improves the surface finish but it doesn’t affect the porosity and mechanical strength of the parts incorporating reused powder.
• The used PEK powder suffers degradation which affects the particle coalescence process.

Laser sintering (LS) of polymers has high potential for growth as a manufacturing technique into a wide range of applications provided the range of engineering polymers available for LS expands and machines and LS process conditions are optimised for such materials.This study is the first investigation into laser sintering of both virgin and used polyether ketone (PEK) powder using a bespoke high temperature (HT) polymer laser sintering machine (known commercially as EOSINT P800). The physico-chemical results reveal that, in spite of polymer degradation, used PEK has a viable processing window for LS manufacturing which, combined with optimisation of specific parameters can successfully lead to manufacture of good quality parts. The proposed sintering mechanism of both, virgin and used powders is supported by the experimental data. The incorporation of 30% used HP3 PEK powder led to an approximately 17% drop in tensile strength.

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