Comparative Analysis of Mechanical and Thermal Characteristics of 3D-Printed Polyamide using Material Extrusion and Powder Bed Fusion Process with Industrial and Desktop Printers

Polyamide (PA) has excellent mechanical properties, making it versatile in various applications, including 3D printing. This paper comprehensively investigates and compares the mechanical, structural, thermal, and geometric properties of 3D-printed PA12 samples produced with desktop and industrial printers using material extrusion (MEX) and powder bed fusion (PBF) processes. The mechanical tests included tensile, flexural, Charpy impact, Shore hardness, torsion, and water absorption tests. Additionally, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and melt volume rate (MVR) measurements are conducted. To verify printing accuracy from a biomedical perspective, 3D-printed prosthetic fingers are subjected to geometric assessments. Industrial PBF samples show significantly higher values for most mechanical properties, including a tensile Young's modulus of 1776 +/- 19.42 MPa, while the second highest value is 1419 +/- 58.77 MPa (MEX desktop). Furthermore, the MVR of the PBF industrial samples is the highest (18.34 cm3/10 min +/- 2.32 cm3/10 min) and this printer exhibits superior performance in printing accuracy than the other printers. The balanced print quality and mechanics make the PBF industrial printer the most recommended for medical device production, but lower-priced desktop FFF printers can be a good alternative for simple, fast solutions that do not require high precision.