Novel method of polyamide powders reconditioning for re-use in selective laser sintering process - PowderEUse

Project summary

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing technology, also known as 3D printing, where a polymer powder is added layer by layer and then melted by a laser beam. The feedstock material in the SLS is mainly polyamides, which represent more than 90% of the market today (polymer powder market reached $539m in 2019). During the production process, only about 10% of the volume of the working chamber is used, and the main drawback is the inability to directly reuse the material because of chemical changes due to thermal degradation. The goal of the project is to demonstrate the ability to regenerate waste powders in SLS and obtain ready components with acceptable characteristics, while reducing costs for short production runs. This solution is primarily a new approach in the field of environmental protection, which allows the elimination of post-process waste to a large extent and is an important aspect in the industry in prototypes and tooling production, consumer goods.