Process Resolution of Laser Sintering Process Using Plastic Powder Containing Inorganic Filler at a High Rate

Toshiki NIINO, Shunsuke OIZUMI and Kazuki SATO, Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Japan 4-6-1 Komaba Meguro Tokyo, 153-8505 Japan [email protected] ABSTRACT Reviewed, accepted September 10, 2008 Research is being performed on a laser sintering process in which inorganic filler is employed as porogen at a high content to fabricate highly porous three dimensional tissue engineering scaffold. Previously, the scaffold, which included capillary like flow channel network, was used in cell culture test, but obtained cell density was limited due to insufficient fineness of the network structure. In the scaffold fabrication the author experienced degradation of process resolution when inorganic filler was introduced at a high content, but reasons for the low resolution has not been cleared. This paper investigates the dominating cause of the low resolution. Discussion is focused on effect of optical and thermal properties of filler. Experiments using transparent and opaque fillers are performed, and existence of dominating effect of difference in the optical property is denied. Experiments using thermally conductive solid filler and insulating hollow filler is performed, and it is concluded that temperature conductivity is dominating on process resolution.