Numerical Model and Experimental Validation for Laser Sinterable Semi-Crystalline Polymer: Shrinkage and Warping

Shrinkage and warping of additive manufacturing (AM) parts are two critical issues that adversely influence the dimensional accuracy especially in powder bed fusion processes such as selective laser sintering (SLS). Powder fusion, material solidification, and recrystallization are the key stages causing volumetric changes of polymeric materials during the abrupt heating-cooling process. In this work, the mechanisms of shrinkage and warping of semi-crystalline polyamide (PA) 12 in SLS are well investigated. Heat-transfer and thermo-mechanical models are established to predict the process-dependent shrinkage and warping. The influence of raw material- and laser-related parameters are considered in the heat-transfer and thermo-mechanical models. Such models are established considering the natural thermal gradient and dynamic recrystallization, which induce internal strain and volumetric change. Moreover, an experimental design via orthogonal approach is introduced to validate the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed models. Finally, the quantitative relationships of process parameters with product shrinkage and warping are established; the dimensional accuracy in part-scale can be well predicted and validated with printed parts in a real experiment.