Simulation of Binder Jetting and Analysis of Magnesium Alloy Bonding Mechanism

Binder jetting (3DP) is a kind of additive manufacturing at room temperature and atmospheric environment, which can reduce the risk of magnesium alloy forming. Magnesium alloy powder is bonded to a certain structure by a binder, so the appropriate binder is very important in 3DP. In this study, according to the characteristics of magnesium alloy, a simple and easy-to-obtain water-based low-molecular alcohol binder was used to reduce the difficulty of magnesium alloy 3DP. Additionally, we use COMSOL Multiphysics simulation software to establish a simulation model of the movement and deposition process of the binder. The results show that the increase in jet velocity will increase the quality and saturation of droplets. More importantly, the larger the jet velocity is, the larger the spreading width of the binder droplet after impacting the powder bed, which seriously affects the dimensional accuracy of the green part. In addition, lower binder saturation will weaken the formation of interparticle bonding neck and cannot form a stable structure. Furthermore, we analyzed the bond reactants of the binder and magnesium alloy powder, which eventually decompose into MgO, and the experimental results show that the final sintered sample has considerable performance.