Improved Sintering Quality and Mechanical Properties of Peanut Husk Powder/Polyether Sulfone Composite for Selective Laser Sintering

Aboubaker I B Idriss; Jian Li; Yanling Guo; Yangwei Wang; Elkhawad A Elfaki; Elhaj A I Ahmed

doi:10.1089/3dp.2021.0036

Improved Sintering Quality and Mechanical Properties of Peanut Husk Powder/Polyether Sulfone Composite for Selective Laser Sintering

3D Print Addit Manuf. 2023 Feb 1;10(1):111-123. doi: 10.1089/3dp.2021.0036. Epub 2023 Feb 14.

Authors

Aboubaker I B Idriss^{1

2}, Jian Li¹, Yanling Guo¹, Yangwei Wang¹, Elkhawad A Elfaki^{3

4}, Elhaj A I Ahmed²

Affiliations

¹ College of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Northeast Forestry University, Harbin, China.
² Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering Science, University of Nyala, Nyala, Sudan.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, The University of Bisha, Bisha, Saudi Arabia.
⁴ Department of Mechanical Engineering, College of Engineering, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Khartoum, Sudan.

Abstract

Current wood-plastic materials available for selective laser sintering (SLS) are limited and often suffer from low-quality and mechanical strength. In this study, a new composite of peanut husk powder (PHP)/polyether sulfone (PES) was developed for SLS additive manufacturing (AM). To use the biomass waste materials in AM technology, such as furniture and wood flooring, this composite based on agricultural waste is environmentally friendly, energy efficient, and low in production cost. SLS parts made from PHPC had good mechanical strength and excellent dimensional precision (DP). The thermal decomposition temperature of composite powder components and the glass transition temperatures of PES and various PHPC were determined first to prevent the PHPC parts from warping during sintering. Furthermore, the formability of PHPC powders in various mixing ratios was examined through single-layer sintering; and the density, mechanical strength, surface roughness, and DP of the sintered parts were measured. Particle distribution and microstructure of the powders and the SLS parts (both before and after breakage in mechanical tests) were inspected using scanning electron microscopy. According to the combined results, a ratio of PHP/PES = 10/90 (w/w) resulted in the best forming quality and mechanical strength compared with other ratios and pure PES. The measured density, impact strength, tensile strength, and bending strength for this PHPC are 1.1825 g/cm³, 2.12 kJ/cm², 6.076 MPa, and 14.1 MPa, respectively. After wax infiltration, these parameters were further improved to 2.0625 g/cm³, 2.96 kJ/cm², 7.476 MPa, and 15.7 MPa, respectively.

Keywords: dimensional precision analysis; mechanical strengths; peanut husk powder; polyether sulfone powder; postprocessing; selective laser sintering process.