3D printing binder flow simulation
Inkjet 3D printing ("binder jetting") is a manufacturing technology used to create complex parts by selectively depositing a liquid binder onto the surface of successive powder layers. The choice of suitable binder materials plays an important role in manufacturing parts with high surface quality and good dimensional stability.
To study the penetration characteristics of binder materials with different viscosities, a computational fluid dynamics model was created. The powder bed section was modelled using Mote3D, assuming a mean powder particle diameter of 20 μm and periodic boundary conditions.
The velocity flow fields computed for two binder materials with different viscosities are plotted below.
