Three-dimensional printing with triethylene glycol fusing agents

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11850795-B2
Application number	US-201917294101-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 10, 2019
Priority date	Jun 10, 2019
Publication date	Dec 26, 2023
Grant date	Dec 26, 2023

Abstract

This disclosure describes three-dimensional printing kits, methods, and systems for three-dimensional printing with triethylene glycol fusing agents. In one example, a three-dimensional printing kit can include a powder bed material including polymer particles and a fusing agent to selectively apply to the powder bed material. The fusing agent can include water, a radiation absorber, and triethylene glycol in an amount from about 20 wt % to about 35 wt %. The radiation absorber can absorb radiation energy and convert the radiation energy to heat to fuse the powder bed material.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
iteratively applying individual build material layers of polymer particles to a powder bed;
based on a three-dimensional object model, selectively jetting a fusing agent onto the individual build material layers, wherein the fusing agent comprises water, a radiation absorber, and triethylene glycol in an amount from about 20 wt % to about 35 wt %, and wherein the radiation absorber absorbs radiation energy and converts the radiation energy to heat;
exposing the powder bed to radiation energy to selectively fuse the polymer particles in contact with the radiation absorber at the individual build material layers and thereby form a three-dimensional printed article; and
post-curing the three-dimensional printed article at a post-cure temperature from about 160° C. to about 250° C. for a post-cure time from about 2 hours to about 30 hours so as to increase crosslinking of the polymer with the triethylene glycol.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the post-cure temperature is from about 170° C. to about 220° C.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the post-cure time is from about 6 hours to about 24 hours.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the post-cured article has a tensile strength from about 60 MPa to about 100 MPa and a Young's modulus from about 2,000 MPa to about 4,000 MPa.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the concentration of triethylene glycol in the build material after jetting the fusing agent onto the individual build material layers is from about 2.5 wt % to about 4.5 wt % with respect to the weight of the build material.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the radiation absorber is carbon black and the polymer particles include polyamide 12.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selectively jetting a detailing agent comprising a detailing compound onto the individual build material layers, wherein the detailing compound reduces the temperature of build material onto which the detailing agent is applied.

8. A system for three-dimensional printing comprising:
a powder bed material comprising polymer particles;
a fusing agent ejectable onto a layer of the powder bed material, wherein the fusing agent comprises water, a radiation absorber, and triethylene glycol in an amount from about 20 wt % to about 35 wt %, and wherein the radiation absorber absorbs radiation energy and converts the radiation energy to heat, the triethylene glycol being selected to crosslink the polymer;
a radiant energy source positioned to expose the layer of powder bed material to radiation energy to selectively fuse the polymer particles in contact with the radiation absorber and thereby form a three-dimensional printed article; and
a post-curing heater applying a post-cure temperature to the three-dimensional printed article from about 160° C. to about 250° C. for a post-cure time from about 2 hours to about 30 hours so as to increase crosslinking of the polymer with the triethylene glycol.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the post-cure temperature is from about 170° C. to about 220° C. and the post-cure time is from about 6 hours to about 24 hours.

10. The system of claim 8 , further comprising a detailing agent comprising a detailing compound that is ejectable onto the layer of powder bed material, wherein the detailing compound reduces the temperature of powder bed material onto which the detailing agent is applied.

Assignees

• Hewlett Packard Development Co

Inventors

• Rudisill Stephen G
• Fleischmann Carolin

Classifications

• B29C64/165 Primary

  using a combination of solid and fluid materials, e.g. a powder selectively bound by a liquid binder, catalyst, inhibitor or energy absorber · CPC title

• B29C64/188

  involving additional operations performed on the added layers, e.g. smoothing, grinding or thickness control (surface shaping B29C59/00; after-treatment of articles without altering their shape B29C71/00) · CPC title

• B29C64/264

  Arrangements for irradiation · CPC title

• B29C64/295

  Heating elements · CPC title

• B29C64/30

  Auxiliary operations or equipment · CPC title