Surface Modification for Additive Manufacturing: Materials, Processing, Applications and Future Challenges

A special issue of Coatings (ISSN 2079-6412). This special issue belongs to the section "Surface Characterization, Deposition and Modification".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 42691

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
School of Mechanical Engineering, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 6997801, Israel
Interests: additive manufacturing of alloys and polymers; fracture mechanics; material characterization; materials processing; mechanical properties; surface treatments and coatings

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Surface morphology and surface properties are significant factors that should be considered when a desired surface finish is needed for different applications, such as automotive, aviation and aerospace, medical devices, constructions, industrial art, and jewellery. The discipline of 3D printing is continuing its fast growth, and the development of advanced additive manufacturing technologies and adaptation of modern materials offer production benefits, such as the opportunity to produce customized parts and accessories, with unique geometries and properties, and with less scrap formation. For some applications of additive manufactured parts, the surface finish is insufficient and post-printing surface modification is frequently needed, such as machine finishing and/or coatings, to improve the surface quality, protact the part against wear and corrosion, and achieve advanced material properties, such as good wettability, adhesion properties, enhanced electrical and thermal conductivity, biocompatibility, or meet aesthetic considerations. The goal of this Special Issue of Coatings is to offer a variety of innovative research studies in the field of surface modification of different materials produced by additive manufacturing technologies in order to gain new knoledge, ideas, and recent developments on this topic.

This scope and topics of interest of this Special Issue include:

  • Experimental research, applications, and future challenges on various topics concerning surface modification of additive manufactured parts, produced by different additive manufacturing technologies, such as laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and fused filament fabrication (FFF);
  • Controling 3D printing parameters in order to achieve better surface conditions;
  • Recent progresses in post-printing surface treatments of 3D-printed parts, such as coatings, to reduce surface roughness and to improve surface performance;
  • Improvement of surface quality of 3D-printed parts made of different materials (metals and alloys, polymers, ceramic materials, composite materials, and smart materials).

Dr. Dana Ashkenazi
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • additive manufacturing
  • coatings
  • surface modification
  • surface quality and surface properties
  • 3D- and 4D-printing

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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12 pages, 6446 KiB  
Article
The Effects on Thermal Efficiency of Yttria-Stabilized Zirconia and Lanthanum Zirconate-Based Thermal Barrier Coatings on Aluminum Heating Block for 3D Printer
by Hasan Demir
Coatings 2021, 11(7), 792; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11070792 - 30 Jun 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2701
Abstract
Fused filament fabrication is an important additive manufacturing method, for which 3D printers are the most commonly used printing tools. In this method, there are many factors that affect the printing quality, chief among which is temperature. The fusion temperature of the material [...] Read more.
Fused filament fabrication is an important additive manufacturing method, for which 3D printers are the most commonly used printing tools. In this method, there are many factors that affect the printing quality, chief among which is temperature. The fusion temperature of the material is created by an aluminum heating block in the extruder. Stability and a constant temperature for the aluminum heating block are inevitable requirements for print quality. This study aims to use the thermal barrier coating method to increase the thermal efficiency and stability of the aluminum heating block by reducing heat loss. Furthermore, it aims to perform steady-state thermal analysis using finite element analysis software. The analyses are carried out in stagnant air environment and at the printing temperature of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material. In order to examine the effects of different coating materials, blocks coated with two different coating materials, as well as uncoated blocks, were used in the analyses. The coating made with yttria-stabilized zirconia and pyrochlore-type lanthanum zirconate materials, together with the NiCRAl bond layer, prevent temperature fluctuation by preventing heat loss. The effects of the coating method on average heat flux density, temperature distribution of blocks, and temperature distribution of the filament tube hole were investigated. Additionally, changes in flow velocity were determined by examining the effects of the thermal barrier coating method on temperature distribution. The average heat flux density in the coated blocks decreased by 10.258%. Throughout the investigation, the temperature distributions in the coated blocks became homogeneous. It was also observed that both coating materials produce the same effect. This article performs a steady-state thermal analysis of a conventional model and thermal-barrier-coated models to increase print quality by reducing heat loss from the aluminum heating block. Full article
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21 pages, 77664 KiB  
Article
Fabrication and Characterization of Fiber-Reinforced Composite Sandwich Structures Obtained by Fused Filament Fabrication Process
by George Razvan Buican, Sebastian-Marian Zaharia, Mihai Alin Pop, Lucia-Antoneta Chicos, Camil Lancea, Valentin-Marian Stamate and Ionut Stelian Pascariu
Coatings 2021, 11(5), 601; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11050601 - 19 May 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4233
Abstract
The application of fused filament fabrication processes is rapidly expanding in many domains such as aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy, mainly due to the flexibility of manufacturing structures with complex geometries in a short time. To improve the mechanical properties of lightweight sandwich [...] Read more.
The application of fused filament fabrication processes is rapidly expanding in many domains such as aerospace, automotive, medical, and energy, mainly due to the flexibility of manufacturing structures with complex geometries in a short time. To improve the mechanical properties of lightweight sandwich structures, the polymer matrix can be strengthened with different materials, such as carbon fibers and glass fibers. In this study, fiber-reinforced composite sandwich structures were fabricated by FFF process and their mechanical properties were characterized. In order to conduct the mechanical tests for three-point bending, tensile strength, and impact behavior, two types of skins were produced from chopped carbon-fiber-reinforced skin using a core reinforced with chopped glass fiber at three infill densities of 100%, 60%, and 20%. Using microscopic analysis, the behavior of the breaking surfaces and the most common defects on fiber-reinforced composite sandwich structures were analyzed. The results of the mechanical tests indicated a significant influence of the filling density in the case of the three-point bending and impact tests. In contrast, the filling density does not decisively influence the structural performance of tensile tests of the fiber-reinforced composite sandwich structures. Composite sandwich structures, manufactured by fused filament fabrication process, were analyzed in terms of strength-to-mass ratio. Finite element analysis of the composite sandwich structures was performed to analyze the bending and tensile behavior. Full article
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14 pages, 5026 KiB  
Article
The Impact Resistance of Highly Densified Metal Alloys Manufactured from Gas-Atomized Pre-Alloyed Powders
by Ramin Rahmani, Maksim Antonov and Konda Gokuldoss Prashanth
Coatings 2021, 11(2), 216; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11020216 - 12 Feb 2021
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 2989
Abstract
With the increasing acceleration of three-dimensional (3D) printing (for example, powder bed fusion (PBF)) of metal alloys as an additive manufacturing process, a comprehensive characterization of 3D-printed materials and structures is inevitable. The purpose of this work was to test highly densified materials [...] Read more.
With the increasing acceleration of three-dimensional (3D) printing (for example, powder bed fusion (PBF)) of metal alloys as an additive manufacturing process, a comprehensive characterization of 3D-printed materials and structures is inevitable. The purpose of this work was to test highly densified materials produced from gas-atomized pre-alloyed metallic powders, namely 316L, Ti6Al4V, AlSi10Mg, CuNi2SiCr, CoCr28Mo6, and Inconel718, under impact conditions. This was done to demonstrate the best possible performance of such materials. Optimized spark plasma sintering (SPS) parameters (pressure, temperature, heating rate, and holding time) are applied as a novel technique of powder metallurgy. The densification level, impact site (imprint) diameter and volume, and Vickers hardness were studied. The comparison of 316L stainless steel (1) sintered by the SPS process, (2) manufactured by PBF process, and (3) coated by the physical vapor deposition (PVD) process (thin layer of TiAlN) was successfully achieved. Full article
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Review

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28 pages, 9095 KiB  
Review
Gold, Silver, and Electrum Electroless Plating on Additively Manufactured Laser Powder-Bed Fusion AlSi10Mg Parts: A Review
by Dana Ashkenazi, Alexandra Inberg, Yosi Shacham-Diamand and Adin Stern
Coatings 2021, 11(4), 422; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11040422 - 6 Apr 2021
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5601
Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) revolutionary technologies open new opportunities and challenges. They allow low-cost manufacturing of parts with complex geometries and short time-to-market of products that can be exclusively customized. Additive manufactured parts often need post-printing surface modification. This study aims to review novel [...] Read more.
Additive manufacturing (AM) revolutionary technologies open new opportunities and challenges. They allow low-cost manufacturing of parts with complex geometries and short time-to-market of products that can be exclusively customized. Additive manufactured parts often need post-printing surface modification. This study aims to review novel environmental-friendly surface finishing process of 3D-printed AlSi10Mg parts by electroless deposition of gold, silver, and gold–silver alloy (e.g., electrum) and to propose a full process methodology suitable for effective metallization. This deposition technique is simple and low cost method, allowing the metallization of both conductive and insulating materials. The AlSi10Mg parts were produced by the additive manufacturing laser powder bed fusion (AM-LPBF) process. Gold, silver, and their alloys were chosen as coatings due to their esthetic appearance, good corrosion resistance, and excellent electrical and thermal conductivity. The metals were deposited on 3D-printed disk-shaped specimens at 80 and 90 °C using a dedicated surface activation method where special functionalization of the printed AlSi10Mg was performed to assure a uniform catalytic surface yielding a good adhesion of the deposited metal to the substrate. Various methods were used to examine the coating quality, including light microscopy, optical profilometry, XRD, X-ray fluorescence, SEM–energy-dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), focused ion beam (FIB)-SEM, and XPS analyses. The results indicate that the developed coatings yield satisfactory quality, and the suggested surface finishing process can be used for many AM products and applications. Full article
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42 pages, 9689 KiB  
Review
Extrusion-Based 3D Printing Applications of PLA Composites: A Review
by Eda Hazal Tümer and Husnu Yildirim Erbil
Coatings 2021, 11(4), 390; https://doi.org/10.3390/coatings11040390 - 29 Mar 2021
Cited by 194 | Viewed by 24351
Abstract
Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most widely used raw material in extrusion-based three-dimensional (3D) printing (fused deposition modeling, FDM approach) in many areas since it is biodegradable and environmentally friendly, however its utilization is limited due to some of its disadvantages such as [...] Read more.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is the most widely used raw material in extrusion-based three-dimensional (3D) printing (fused deposition modeling, FDM approach) in many areas since it is biodegradable and environmentally friendly, however its utilization is limited due to some of its disadvantages such as mechanical weakness, water solubility rate, etc. FDM is a simple and more cost-effective fabrication process compared to other 3D printing techniques. Unfortunately, there are deficiencies of the FDM approach, such as mechanical weakness of the FDM parts compared to the parts produced by the conventional injection and compression molding methods. Preparation of PLA composites with suitable additives is the most useful technique to improve the properties of the 3D-printed PLA parts obtained by the FDM method. In the last decade, newly developed PLA composites find large usage areas both in academic and industrial circles. This review focuses on the chemistry and properties of pure PLA and also the preparation methods of the PLA composites which will be used as a raw material in 3D printers. The main drawbacks of the pure PLA filaments and the necessity for the preparation of PLA composites which will be employed in the FDM-based 3D printing applications is also discussed in the first part. The current methods to obtain PLA composites as raw materials to be used as filaments in the extrusion-based 3D printing are given in the second part. The applications of the novel PLA composites by utilizing the FDM-based 3D printing technology in the fields of biomedical, tissue engineering, human bone repair, antibacterial, bioprinting, electrical conductivity, electromagnetic, sensor, battery, automotive, aviation, four-dimensional (4D) printing, smart textile, environmental, and luminescence applications are presented and critically discussed in the third part of this review. Full article
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