Paul D. Prichard¹; ¹Kennametal Inc.

Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing process which uses drop on demand print technology to produce complex 3D objects. The organic binders must subsequently be removed, and the 3D objects sintered to near full density. The as-printed microstructures contain a wide distribution of porosity resulting from the printing process, powder packing arrangement and powder synthesis process. Print parameters such as droplet size, binder saturation percentage and layer thickness are the key parameters, which have an influence on the porosity size and distribution. The sintering process required to create full density components is dependent on the powder arrangement and the pore distribution in the as-printed structure. This presentation will discuss the relationship between the print parameters, pore size distribution and the resulting sintered microstructures.