Printing orientation influence on tensile strength of PA12 specimens obtained by SLS

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is one of the additive manufacturing technologies dedicated to the production of high-quality parts with complex geometries. Here, polyamide 12 (PA12) is a commonly used material, for manufacturing parts with sufficient mechanical and thermal properties. In SLS, many manufacturing parameters have an effect on the mechanical properties of final parts. Even the decision regarding the orientation of a part in a powder bed may have a significant effect on the mechanical properties. In this research, the influence of horizontal (H) and vertical (V) printing orientations on the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) of fabricated PA12 specimens are examined. Our research findings show that H specimens exhibit larger deformations and smaller UTS value scatter in comparison with V specimens. Also, worth pointing out is the fact that V-oriented specimens have a higher elastic modulus. One can assume that the sintering process is more effective in V specimens, due to a more uniform laser beam trajectory than in the H specimens’ case.