Production of Spherical Micron-Sized Polymer Particles for Additive Manufacturing by Liquid Phase Processes

Selective laser sintering (SLS) is an additive manufacturing process that yields excellent part qualities. This process employs micron-sized polymer particles, which are selectively fused by a laser. While there seem to be hardly any boundaries regarding design, there are quite some restrictions concerning the variety of commercially available SLS materials. At the moment, the most widely used polymeric material for SLS is polyamide 12 (PA12), with a market share of roughly 95%. In order to broaden the field of application of SLS, novel polymer powders with good handling properties are needed. In this contribution, different liquid phase processes enabling the manufacturing of spherical micron-sized polymer particles are outlined.