摘要： Ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a thermoplastic semicrystalline polymer that has outstanding mechanical properties, low friction coe?cient, excellent wear resistance, and is highly resistant to corrosive chemicals. UHMWPE is found in many applications including arti?cial joints and ?ltration. However, UHMWPE parts cannot be produced easily by traditional techniques, such as injection moulding and extrusion because of its very high melt viscosity owing to the extremely long polymer chains. Few attempts were made to process UHMWPE by additive manufacturing, particularly laser sintering. This is due to the lack of understanding of the powder properties of UHMWPE. Therefore, the aim of the powder characterisation process in this study is to gain a better understanding of the material requirements and provide a detailed insight on whether UHMWPE is a suitable material for laser sintering. The characterisation process includes powder morphological and ?ow characteristics, thermal behaviour and stability, and crystallinity of UHMWPE. The study reveals that the sintering behaviour of polymers is controlled by the morphology of the particles in addition to the viscous ?ow of UHMWPE. There are still di?culties of processing UHMWPE due to highly agglomerated structure of smaller particles with the presence of ?brils in the UHMWPE particles.