Characterization and optimization of laser sintering copolyamide/polyether sulfone hot-melt adhesive mixtures

Purpose A new kind of polymer mixture (co-PA-PES) was prepared in different mass ratios, by mixing polyether sulfone hot-melt adhesive (PES-HmA) and copolyamide B249 (PA-B249). This study aims to investigate its characteristics of laser sintering and get the optimal process parameters. Design/methodology/approach The effect of mass ratio of co-PA-PES on thermal behavior was analyzed using a simultaneous thermal analyzer, and the density and mechanical properties of sintered parts were tested to evaluate the performance of the polymeric system. Scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were performed to characterize the microstructure and binding mechanism of sintered co-PA-PES parts. Specifically, mechanical properties of the mixture with 20 Wt.% PA-B249 were optimized based on a design of experiment methodology, along with the restriction of maximum absorbable laser energy density. Findings Liquid phase fusion was considered as the main sintering mechanism for co-PA-PES, and mechanical interlocking was the dominant binding mechanism. The effects of mass ratios of this material on the thermal properties, density and mechanical properties were obtained via data results. Additionally, compared to neat PES-HmA, co-20 Wt.% PA-PES showed a 71.7 per cent increase in tensile strength, 24.4 per cent increase in flexural strength and 102.1per cent increase in impact strength. Originality/value This paper proposed a new kind of polymer mixture as the feedstock for laser sintering with the advantages of low price and easy processing. The filler of PA-B249 effectively improved the performance of the polymer mixture, including but not limited to mechanical properties.