Selective laser sintering of polyamide 12/potassium titanium whisker composites

Abstract

Abstract The excellent performance of potassium titanium whiskers (PTWs) reinforced plastics has been recognized; however, because of their large length‐to‐diameter ratio, they have not been applied in selective laser sintering (SLS). This article reports a new method for preparing polyamide 12 (PA12)/PTWs composite (PPC) powders for applications in SLS that uses a dissolution–precipitation process. The characteristics of the powders were evaluated. The results indicated that when the PTWs content of the composites was low (<10 wt %), the shape of the powder became more regular, and the particle diameter distribution became narrower. The crystallinity of PPC was 13 wt % higher than that of PA12. The sintering characteristics and mechanical properties of PA12 powder, glass‐filled PA12 (GF–PA), and PPCs were compared. The results showed that the sintering characteristics of PPCs (10 or 20 wt % PTWs) were as good as those of PA12. The mechanical properties were greatly improved by PTWs. The maximum tensile strength, bending strength, and bending modulus of the composites containing 20 wt % PTW were 68.3 MPa, 110.9 MPa, and 2.83 GPa, respectively, and were much higher than those of PA12 and GF–PA. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010