Stress Relaxation and Creep of a Polymer-Aluminum Composite Produced through Selective Laser Sintering

Abstract

This article discusses the rheological properties (stress relaxation and creep) of polymer-aluminum composite specimens fabricated through the selective laser sintering (SLS) from a commercially available powder called Alumide. The rheological data predicted using the Maxwell–Wiechert and the Kelvin–Voigt models for stress relaxation and creep, respectively, were in agreement with the experimental results. The elastic moduli and dynamic viscosities were determined with high accuracy for both models. The findings of this study can be useful to designers and users of SLS prints made from the material tested.