Preparation of Polypropylene Powder by Dissolution-Precipitation Method for Selective Laser Sintering

Abstract EN

Polypropylene (PP) powder with spherical morphology and suitable particle size for selective laser sintering (SLS) was successfully produced by dissolution-precipitation method.

The influence of preparation condition on properties of PP powder was investigated.

The experimental results show that the optimal preparation conditions are as follows: dissolution temperature being about 166°C, pressure being about 0.7MPa, and the solid-to-solvent ratio being about 0.067g/ml.

The prepared PP powder displayed a narrow size distribution with the mean size of about 42.7μm and the apparent density of powder about 0.40 g/cm3.

The specimens produced by laser sintering of the PP powder showed smooth appearance and good dimensional accuracy.

The tensile strength and impact strength of the sintered parts were 27.9MPa and 6.3KJ/m2, respectively, which are basically equal to the properties of the injection molded parts.