An evaluation of the suitability of a new polypropylene powder for powder bed fusion additive manufacturing

Abstract

The intrinsic and extrinsic properties of a commercial polypropylene (PP) powder (BASF Ultrasint PP 1400) for use in powder bed fusion-based additive manufacturing were characterised and preliminary test parts were printed on an EOS P380 machine. The test specimens demonstrated relatively good dimensional accuracy (<3.6% part deviation), higher than normal elongation at break (127%), and moderate ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of 21.4 MPa.