Abstract:
The polymer laser sintering (PLS) process is one of the most promising additive manufacturing (AM) technologies for polymeric
materials. However, the technique has challenges because the physical, mechanical, and chemical properties of the polymeric
powder deteriorate due to the high temperatures prevailing in the build chamber during manufacture. These high temperatures
cause agglomeration of powder, which leads to a decrease in the flowability of powder. There is also a related drop in the
coalescence of the powder granules during PLS, which results in porosity that undermines the mechanical integrity of printed
parts. Moreover, the viscosity of the melt increases due to cross-linking of molecular chains. This, in turn, increases the tensile
strength of the printed components at the expense of the percentage elongation at break. Thus, high prolonged processing
temperatures decrease the reusability of polymeric materials used in PLS. In this paper, a review of the studies conducted to
investigate ways of reducing the effects of high temperature on polymeric powders is presented.
