Dustin Gilmer¹, Lu Han², Michelle Lehmann¹, Amy Elliott², Tomonori Saito²; ¹The University of Tennessee, ²Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Binder jet additive manufacturing utilizes an inkjet technology to deposit a polymer binder into a powder bed. The layers of powder are glued together, one layer at a time to form a part. The part is removed from the printer and cured in a low-temperature oven. Then, the green part is sintered and infiltrated in a high-temperature furnace. Green part properties including strength, porosity, and resolution significantly impact the final part properties. This study developed several novel polymer binders for binder jetting to improve green parts and final part properties. Particularly, novel polymer binders were developed for sand printing. The binder provides a very high strength of sand parts, stronger than unreinforced concrete. The binder can be washed, which is ideal for sand-casting molds and wash-out tooling, among others. The binder also has other functionalities that enhance the final part properties.