ENHANCED SURFACE CHARACTERISTICS OFCOOPER COATED 3D PRINTED PARTS

Copper metal powder being highly thermally and electrically conductive. It has a lot of uses such as: manufacture of soft magnets, sintered components, friction products, surface coating etc. This publication examines the properties of biodegradable polymers (PLA and HD PLA Green) coated with two different bronze alloy powders, Metco 51F-NS (Cu 9.5Al 1.2Fe) and Metco 445 (Cu 9.5Al). The coating was applied to printed samples using the Atmospheric Plasma Spray (APS) process. This inquiry will elucidate the findings concerning surface quality, microstructure, microindentation, and scratch testing. The outcomes of micro indentation and scratch analysis were markedly affected by the semicrystalline structure of the samples and the presence of powder components. The authors of this research assert that components fabricated from biodegradable polymers and coated with copper micro-particles are suitable for certain applications necessitating rigorous operating conditions, given the enhanced properties of the coated samples.