Effect of Post-Printing Cooling Conditions on the Properties of ULTEM Printed Parts

This paper aimed to estimate the effect of post-printing cooling conditions on the tensile and thermophysical properties of ULTEM (R) 9085 printed parts processed by fused deposition modeling (FDM). Three different cooling conditions were applied after printing Ultem samples: from 180 degrees C to room temperature (RT) for 4 h in the printer (P), rapid removal from the printer and cooling from 200 degrees C to RT for 4 h in the oven (O), and cooling at RT (R). Tensile tests and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) were carried out on samples printed in three orthogonal planes to investigate the effect of the post-printing cooling conditions on their mechanical and thermophysical properties. Optical microscopy was employed to relate the corresponding macrostructure to the mechanical performance of the material. The results obtained showed almost no difference between samples cooled either in the printer or oven and a notable difference for samples cooled at room temperature. Moreover, the lowest mechanical performance and sensitivity to the thermal cooling conditions were defined for the Z printing direction due to anisotropic nature of FDM and debonding among layers.

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the effect of different post-printing cooling conditions on the mechanical and thermophysical properties of ULTEM (R) 9085 printed parts through FDM. Tensile tests, DMTA, and optical microscopy were conducted to analyze the samples printed in three orthogonal planes. The results showed little difference between samples cooled in the printer or oven, but a notable difference for samples cooled at room temperature. The Z printing direction exhibited the lowest mechanical performance and sensitivity to cooling conditions due to the anisotropic nature of FDM and debonding among layers.