Research offers hybrid post-processing for additively manufactured filigree sub-millimetre structures
July 15, 2024
Researchers from Product Development Group Zurich pd|z and Inspire AG, Switzerland; RENA Technologies and EGM Institut für Elektrochemie, Austria, have published a study focused on the challenges encountered during the Laser Beam Powder Bed Fusion (PBF-LB) Additive Manufacturing of stent fabrication in The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology.
PBF-LB offers great potential for producing complex and filigree sub-millimetre parts with customised shapes, such as patient-specific vascular stents, the authors explain. However, it is stated that stent fabrication via PBF-LB encounters fundamental challenges, including dimensional limitations, poor surface quality, difficult support structure handling and geometrical deviations.
The study, ‘Advancing quality of laser-based metal powder bed fusion-fabricated filigree sub-millimetre structures: a systematic exploration of a novel hybrid post-processing treatment,’ addresses these challenges by investigating the potential and limitations of a novel hybrid post-processing approach. This technique uses the combination of electrochemical polishing and chemical etching and is investigated from process and design perspectives, to emphasise the interactions between the two.
The systematic use of hybrid post-processing was said to significantly reduce the strut thickness and surface roughness. This process also enables the successful removal of part-internal support structures. Furthermore, angle and orientation-dependent geometrical deviations could be compensated, highlighting the potential of achieving homogenous strut thicknesses within parts containing variable overhang angles.
This study demonstrates that the usage of hybrid (electro)chemical post-processing methods with specifically tailored process parameters is a promising approach for overcoming the design- and process-related challenges in PBF-LB manufactured sub-millimetre parts.
Read the full article, here.
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