Improvement of mechanical properties by additive assisted laser sintering of PEEK

The additive assisted laser sintering was recently developed at IKT: A carbon black (CB) additive is used to adjust the polymer's laser absorption behavior with the aim to improve the interconnection of sintered powder layers. In this paper a parameter study, Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) samples were prepared with different contents of carbon black and were laser sintered with varying thermal treatment. The samples were mechanically tested and investigated by optical light and transmission electron microscopy. An influence on the morphology at the border areas of particles and intersections of laser sintered layers was found. Depending on the viscosity of the raw material and CB content, different shapes of lamellae were observed. These (trans-) crystalline or polymorph structures, respectively, influence the thermal and mechanical behavior of the virgin PEEK. Moreover, the thermal treatment during the sintering process caused an improvement of mechanical properties like tensile strength and elongation at break.