Reducing anisotropy of a part fabricated by material extrusion via warm isostatic pressure (WIP) process
Seong Jun Park, Seong Je Park, Yong Son, Il Hyuk Ahn
Abstract
With the development of material extrusion (ME) technology, ME parts have been widely adopted in various industries owing to their cost-effectiveness. However, air gaps, which are intrinsic problems in the process, are the main reason for the low coalescence, resulting in deteriorating mechanical properties. In addition, the presence of an air gap increases the deviation of the mechanical properties in a build-orientation and worsens the difference in mechanical properties with build orientations. Thus, the reduction of air gaps should be achieved to expand the applications of ME parts. In this study, the authors investigated the effectiveness of a warm isostatic pressure (WIP) process to reduce the air gap. It can be concluded that the WIP process can be helpful to reduce anisotropy and to improve the ductility and bonding force between layers.