Mixing And Reuse Of Polymer Laser Sintering Powders To Ensure Homogeneity - A Review

Abstract

Selective laser sintering is one of the most common additive manufacturing technologies for polymeric materials. However, the technique is limited due to the high cost of the few available feedstock materials. Besides, laser sintering is a high-temperature process, which subjects polymeric materials to thermal stresses, resulting in the degeneration of powder. Besides, only a small portion of the powder fed into the built chamber is used in the printing of components. Hence, the need to recycle the used polymeric powder. This is achieved by mixing used and virgin powder in the ratios stipulated by the manufacturers of the powders. This review investigates the types of powder, types of mixing mechanism, parameters that affect efficient mixing, the homogeneity of mixed powder, mechanisms of segregation, and selection of the most appropriate mixers in the context of selective laser sintering of polymeric materials.