Effect of induced plastic strain on the porosity of PA12 printed through selective laser sintering studied by X-ray computed micro-tomography

3D printing is a widespread technology in different fields, such as medicine, construction, ergonomics, and the transportation industry. Its diffusion is related to the ability of this technique to produce complex parts without needing for assembly of different components or post-processing. However, the quality of the parts produced by additive manufacturing could be affected by the fabrication process, thus leading to the development of different kinds of defects such as porosity or inclusions. Understanding the role played by these defects and promoting strategies that could help reduce their occurrence represents a key point to allow using 3D printing for structural applications. In this work, 3D printed parts have been subjected to porosity characterization by using experimental tests on dogbone samples subjected to plastic deformation. In particular, multiple loading-unloading steps have been carried out and, at the end of each step, the X-ray computed micro-tomography (mu-CT) has been employed for the identification of fabrication defects and for analyzing the crack growth mechanism that occurs after quasi-static loading tests. Sample analysis reveals the presence of a high porosity that could be attributed to the fabrication process. After the sample's plastic deformation, it was found an increase in both porosity percentage and pore dimensions. Moreover, the crack propagation mechanism is affected by porosity.