Comparison of mechanical properties polyamide materials produced by different additive technologies

Additive technology provides several advantages compared to traditional production methods, such as creation of complex geometric shapes with less material consumption. However, the setting of the 3D printing process as well as the positioning of the printed object has an impact on the mechanical properties of the material used. The aim of this study was to compare the mechanical properties of polyamide (PA) material as well as the influence of the orientation of printed objects when using SLS and MJF technology. The SLS technology used the P 396 device (EOS, Germany). An HP Jet Fusion 5200 (HP, USA) was used for MJF technology. In both cases, PA was used to creating experimental samples for mechanical testing. The orientation of the printed samples was 0°, 45° and 90° to the base platform of the 3D printer. The results show by comparing SLS and MJF technologies highest mechanical properties for MJF technology when the position samples were at 90° to the basic platform of 3D printer. Conversely, the lowest mechanical properties were recorded for samples that were positioned at a 45° angle to the base platform of the 3D printer using SLS technology.