Binder jetting is an additive manufacturing process in which the printhead uses a liquid binding agent onto a build platform to form a part.
Binder is quite similar to SLS (Selective Laser Sintering) but SLS uses a laser to sinter powder and binder jetting moves printheads over the powdered surface depositing binder droplets. When the layer is printed, the powder surface is lowered, and a new layer of powder is created over the recent layer. This is a repeating process until the object is formed.
There are two types of binder jetting process:
- Sand Binder Jetting Process
- Metal Binder Jetting Process
Sand Binder Jetting Process
With this printing technique, the parts are created with sands and are a low-cost type of printing technology.
For color models, objects are fabricated using plaster based or PMMA (Polymethyl methacrylate) powder with a liquid binding agent. The first printhead jets the binding agent, while the second printhead jets color to print the color model.
Metal Binder Jetting Process
Metal objects can also be fabricated by the binder jetting process. Metal powder is spread using a polymer binding agent. Even the complex geometries can also be produced by the metal binder jetting process.
