Patent ID: 8506862

Claim:
A method for forming a final article by three dimensional printing, the method comprising the steps of: providing a particulate material comprising a plurality of adjacent particles, the particulate material comprising an aqueous-insoluble thermoplastic; applying to at least some of the plurality of particles an aqueous fluid binder in an amount sufficient to bond those particles together to define an intermediate article; and thereafter, performing a post-processing treatment comprising immersing the intermediate article in a liquid infiltrant medium comprising a plasticizer to define the final article, wherein a composition of the liquid infiltrant medium is different from a composition of the aqueous fluid binder and wherein the liquid infiltrant medium comprises 0-99.99% by weight hydroxylated hydrocarbon, 0-99.99% by weight a solid wax, no more than 99.99% by weight a plasticizer, and 0.01-5% by weight a stabilizer.