Effect of Layer Thickness and Orientation on Mechanical Behavior of Binder Jet Stainless Steel 420+Bronze Parts

The aim of this research is to determine the effect of process parameters of Binder Jet manufactured Stainless Steel 420 + Bronze parts on the mechanical properties such as tensile strength, yield strength and elastic modulus. Different process parameters such as layer thickness and part orientation during the printing were varied. A full factorial design of experiments matrix was made by varying 3 different layer thicknesses (50 mu m, 100 mu m and 200 mu m) and 5 different angles in different planes. ASTM E8 standard was used for tensile testing of the specimen and the results were compared. The testing showed that different parameters affect the properties in different manner. Layer thickness was very important to the mechanical properties because it changed the chemical composition of the product, while the part orientation had negligible effect. Based on various applications, different process parameters can be chosen to achieve the strength of a required component made by binder jetting of this material.