Over the past couple of weeks, we have been discussing the need for a test part which allows us to examine the performance of powders. We really wanted a part that was not to big (which allows for smaller powder test batches). The part is little bit of a Swiss Army knife of test parts (a little of this and a little of that). It tests the performance of text positive and negative, thin wall & post positive and negative, and triangles positive and negative (and all in a 10x10x30 mm part).
We present renderings to allow all sides of the test part to be displayed.
We present the results of two powders of different mesh/particle sizes. The top bars are printed in a fairly course powder we obtained from a recycled glass shop. The lower bars are printed in our current best preforming glass powder. The results are quit telling — powder size clearly matters!
Next, we will attempt to set some numerical scale for results in an attempt to score or quantify performance.
Have you tried adding graphite to the mix to make the glass (partially) conductive?
Andrew, sorry we have not tried graphite powder as our objects tend to be kiln fired which would remove most or all of the graphite. A MUCH bigger issue is containment of the graphite. In test for another project, graphite produced a mess in our lab that was amazing and difficult to clean up. We have successfully tested graphite fiber on a project.
Got it. Sounds like graphite powder is best reserved for extruder-based production methods were the wet mixture keeps everything else clean.
Looking forward to seeing results from the graphite fiber tests!
Andrew, sorry to disappoint but we did the graphite fiber 5+ years ago. Samples are gone and data sets left with the student.
[...] Grant and Renuka have been working with a post-consumer recycled glass that is quite course (maybe 150-200 micron particles) but readily available at a low cost . This glass doesn’t do very well with fine details (check out “A New Part for Testing Different Powders“). [...]