The Technical University of Munich Determines Melt Flow Index with Mflow as the Basis for Innovative Manufacturing Techniques
In the field of additive manufacturing of plastics, the Technical University of Munich works with innovative concepts for the laser powder bed fusion of plastics (PBF-LB/P) and the combination of materials for material extrusion (MEX) processes. Here, determination of the melt flow index plays a key role. With the Mflow extrusion plastometer, ZwickRoell provides the ideal solution.
Determining the aging condition of the powder materials used
On the one hand, determination of the melt flow index is a quick and cost efficient method to qualify the aging condition of plastic powder materials with the PBF-LB/P method. If this value is within a predefined range, the powder can be reused in the subsequent process or refreshed with new powder.
Effective identification of suitable processing conditions
On the other hand, suitable process temperatures for the MEX method can be identified through the determination of the melt flow rate of two materials. This allows two different plastics, despite having different melting points or processing temperature ranges, to be used in the same process for manufacturing multi-material components.
Standard-compliant determination of the melt flow index
The test procedure to Method B of the DIN EN ISO 1133 standard can be used to infer the density and thus the melt volume flow rate and melt mass flow rate of a plastic material. These characteristic values can be used in additive manufacturing to evaluate the qualitative condition of powders and filaments.
Mflow – a long-lasting solution
With its die plug, the Mflow extrusion plastometer enables testing of plastic powders. This prevents parts of the powder from passing through the extrusion barrel in an uncontrolled manner. When acquiring the instrument, special consideration was given to the wear-resistant design of the extrusion barrel, since in additive manufacturing methods plastic materials with mixed aggregates are often used.
Standardized testing software for all testing systems
In the university environment with different testing systems and constantly changing personnel and students, it is beneficial to have testXpert III, a standardized testing software for all testing systems. Untrained users, therefore only need to familiarize themselves once and with that can quickly perform different standard-compliant tests. This always guarantees an effective and robust measurement operation with testXpert III.
ZwickRoell leads to reliable test results
“Within the scope of a research project, we analyzed the process and design influences on multi-material components in additive manufacturing. Because the machines that were available to us did not have the right equipment for testing the multi-material tensile specimens manufactured as part of our project, ZwickRoell enabled us, on short notice, to run the tests in their in-house testing lab in Ulm. With the support from ZwickRoell, we were able to establish suitable test conditions and generate reliable test results for this new type of specimen. This accommodating and quick customer service is standard at ZwickRoell.
