scholarly journals On the 3D printing of recycled ABS, PLA and HIPS thermoplastics for structural applications

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ranvijay Kumar ◽  
Rupinder Singh ◽  
Ilenia Farina

Purpose Three-dimensional printing (3DP) is an established process to print structural parts of metals, ceramic and polymers. Further, multi-material 3DP has the potentials to be a milestone in rapid manufacturing (RM), customized design and structural applications. Being compatible as functionally graded materials in a single structural form, multi-material-based 3D printed parts can be applied in structural applications to get the benefit of modified properties. Design/methodology/approach The fused deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the established low cost 3DP techniques which can be used for printing functional/ non-functional prototypes in civil engineering applications. Findings The present study is focused on multi-material printing of primary recycled acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) in composite form. Thermal (glass transition temperature and heat capacity) and mechanical properties (break load, break strength, break elongation, percentage elongation at break and Young’s modulus) have been analysed to observe the behaviour of multi-material composites prepared by 3DP. This study also highlights the process parameters optimization of FDM supported with photomicrographs. Originality/value The present study is focused on multi-material printing of primary recycled ABS, PLA and HIPS in composite form.

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (5) ◽  
pp. 745-754
Author(s):  
Gurpartap Singh ◽  
Rupinder Singh ◽  
S.S. Bal

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate dimensional accuracy (Δd), surface roughness (Ra) and micro hardness (HV) of partial dentures (PD) prepared with synergic combination of fused deposition modelling (FDM) assisted chemical vapour smoothing (CVS) patterns and conventional dental casting (DC) from multi-factor optimization view point. Design/methodology/approach The master pattern for PD was prepared with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) thermoplastic on FDM set-up (one of the low cost additive manufacturing process) followed by CVS process. The final PD as functional prototypes was casted with nickel–chromium-based (Ni-Cr) alloy by varying Ni% (Z). The other input parameters were powder to water ratio P/W (X) and pH value (Y) of water used. Findings The results of this study suggest that for controlling the Δd and Ra of the PD, most important factor is X, followed by Z. For hardness of PD, the most important factor is Z. But from overall optimization viewpoint, the best settings are X-100/12, Y-10 and Z-61% (in Ni-Cr alloy). Further, based upon X-bar chart (for HV), the FDM-assisted DC process used for preparation of PD is statistically controlled. Originality/value This study highlights that PD prepared with X-100/12, Y-10 and Z-61% gives overall better results from multi-factor optimization view point. Finally, X-bar chart has been plotted to understand the statistical nature of the synergic combination of FDM, CVS and DC.


2018 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 921-934 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Abu Hasan Khondoker ◽  
Asad Asad ◽  
Dan Sameoto

Purpose This paper aims to target to print functionally gradient materials (FGM) devices made of immiscible polymers in multi-material fused deposition modelling (FDM) systems. The design is intended to improve adhesion of dissimilar thermoplastics without the need for chemical compatibilization so that filaments from many different sources can be used effectively. Therefore, there is a need to invent an alternative solution for printing multiple immiscible polymers in an FDM system with the desired adhesion. Design/methodology/approach In this study, the authors have developed a bi-extruder for FDM systems which can print two thermoplastics through a single nozzle with a static intermixer to enhance bonding between input materials. The system can also change the composition of extrudates continuously. Findings The uniqueness of this extruder is in its easy access to the internal channel so that a static intermixer can be inserted, enabling deposition of mechanically interlocked extrudates composed of two immiscible polymers. Without this intermixer, the bi-extruder extrudes with simple side-by-side co-extrusion having no mechanical interlocking. The bi-extruder was characterized by printing objects using pairs of materials including polylactic acid, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and high impact polystyrene. Microscope images of the cross-sections of the extrudates confirm the ability of this bi-extruder to control the composition as desired. It was also found that the mechanically interlocked extrudates composed of two immiscible polymers substantially reduces adhesion failures within and between filaments. Originality/value In this study, the first-ever FDM extruder with a mechanical blending feature next to the nozzle has been designed and used to successfully print FGM objects with improved mechanical properties.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 651 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Moises Baca Lopez ◽  
Rafiq Ahmad

The application of single homogeneous materials produced through the fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology restricts the production of high-level multi-material components. The fabrication of a sandwich-structured specimen with different material combinations using conventional thermoplastics such as poly (lactic acid) (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and high impact polystyrene (HIPS) through the filament-based extrusion process can demonstrate an improvement on its properties. This paper aims to assess among these materials, the best material sandwich-structured arrangement design, to enhance the mechanical properties of a part and to compare the results with the homogeneous materials selected. The samples were subjected to tensile testing to identify the tensile strength, elongation at break and Young’s modulus of each material combination. The experimental results demonstrate that applying the PLA-ABS-PLA sandwich arrangement leads to the best mechanical properties between these materials. This study enables users to consider sandwich structure designs as an alternative to manufacturing multi-material components using conventional and low-cost materials. Future work will consider the flexural tests to identify the maximum stresses and bending forces under pressure.


2019 ◽  
Vol 821 ◽  
pp. 174-180
Author(s):  
Ramil Kesvarakul ◽  
Khompee Limpadapun

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) has been extensively used in low-cost printers. However, the fundamental working principle (layered manufacturing) is resulted in the poor quality of the surface texture, the dimensional inaccuracy of fabricated parts, the limits its domain all issues often take place in precision industrial applications. In this paper, initially FDM based acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) model have been fabricated. In the post-processing stage, the vapor of acetone has been applied to the specimen. Then the changes in the surface finish and surface roughness have been investigated. The study highlighted that the post-processing of ABS specimen with acetone vapor treatment resulted in dramatic improvement of surface finish. Finally, parameter setting that gave the acceptable results while considering all the responses simultaneously.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 765-774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prithvirajan R. ◽  
Sugavaneswaran M. ◽  
Sathishkumar N. ◽  
Arumaikkannu G.

Purpose Custom-designed metal bellows require alternate ways to produce the die to shorten lead time. The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of using Additive Manufactured (AM) polymer die as direct rapid tool (RT) for metal bellow hydroforming. Design/methodology/approach Finite element analysis (FEA) was used to simulate bellow forming and to evaluate the compatibility of AM die. Fused deposition modelling (FDM) technique is used to fabricate die with Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) material. To validate, the width of the metal bellow convolutions obtained from the FEA simulation is compared with convolution formed during the experiment. Findings FDM-made die can be used for a short production run of bellow hydroforming. FEA simulation shows that stress developed in some regions of die is less and these regions have potential for material reduction. Use of RT for this particular application is limited by the die material, forming pressure, width, convolution span and material of bellow. This supports the importance of FEA validation of RT before fabrication to evaluate and redesign die for the successful outcome of the tool. Research limitations/implications The given methodology may be followed to design a RT with minimum material consumption for bellow forming application. Whenever there is a change in bellow design or the die material, simulation has to be done to evaluate the capability of the die. As this study was focused on a short production run for manufacturing one or few bellows, the die life is not a significant factor. Originality/value This paper demonstrates about rapid tooling for metal bellow manufacturing using FDM technique for low volume production. Further, FEA is used to identify low stress regions and redesign the die for material reduction before die manufacturing. AM die can be used for developing customized metal bellow for applications such as defense, aerospace, automobiles, etc.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (10) ◽  
pp. 1733-1738
Author(s):  
André Luiz Alves Guimarães ◽  
Vicente Gerlin Neto ◽  
Cesar Renato Foschini ◽  
Maximiliano dos Anjos Azambuja ◽  
Luiz Antonio Vasques Hellmeister

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate and discuss the influence of printing parameters on the mechanical properties of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) print by fused deposition modelling (FDM). The mechanical properties of ABS are highly influenced by printing parameters, and they determine the final product quality of printed pieces. Design/methodology/approach For the paper’s purpose, five main parameters (extrusion temperature, infill pattern, air gap, printing speed and layer thickness) were selected and varied during ABS printing on an open-source and self-replicable FDM printer. Three different colors of commercially available ABS were also used to investigate color and printing parameter’s influence on the tensile strength. Findings The research results suggest that two parameters (infill pattern and layer thickness) were most influential on the mechanical properties of print ABS, being able to enhance its tensile strength. Another key influential factor was material color selected prior to printing, which influenced the tensile strength of the print specimen. Originality/value This study provides information on print parameters’ influence on the tensile strength of ABS print on replicable open-source three-dimensional (3D) printers. It also suggests the influence of materials’ color on print pieces’ tensile strength, indicating a new parameter for materials selection for 3D printing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-21
Author(s):  
Justin Favero ◽  
Sofiane Belhabib ◽  
Sofiane Guessasma ◽  
Hedi Nouri

Purpose Assembling items to achieve bigger parts seems to be the solution to counterbalance the dimension limits of 3D printing. This work aims to propose an approach to achieve optimal assembling. Design/methodology/approach Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene polymer samples were printed using fused deposition modelling (FDM). These samples were assembled and the precise contribution of interfacial shearing and tension was measured using simple tensile experiments. Findings The results achieved show the correlation between the printing orientation and the assembling angle. It could be proved that rupture by an interfacial decohesion mechanism of glued parts can be avoided by simple adaptation of the assembling junction. Practical implications Design of large parts using FDM is no more a limitation if assembling configurations are adapted based on the knowledge gained about the interfacial phenomena occurring at the junction position. Originality/value The unbalanced contribution of shearing and tension at the interface defines new assembling profiles that exclude flat junctions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Salvatore Brischetto ◽  
Carlo Giovanni Ferro ◽  
Roberto Torre ◽  
Paolo Maggiore

Abstract Desktop 3D FDM (Fused Deposition Modelling) printers are usually employed for the production of nonstructural objects. In recent years, the present authors tried to use this technology also to produce structural elements employed in the construction of small UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). Mechanical stresses are not excessive for small multirotor UAVs. Therefore, the FDM technique combined with polymers, such as the ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) and the PLA(Poly Lactic Acid), can be successfully employed to produce structural components. The present new work is devoted to the production and preliminary structural analysis of sandwich configurations. These new lamination schemes could lead to an important weight reduction without significant decreases of mechanical properties. Therefore, it could be possible, for the designed application (e.g., a multifunctional small UAV produced via FDM), to have stiffener and lighter structures easy to be manufactured with a low-cost 3D printer. The new sandwich specimens here proposed are PLA sandwich specimens embedding a PLA honeycomb core produced by means of the same extruder, multilayered specimens with ABS external layers and an internal homogeneous PLA core using different extruders for the two materials, sandwich specimens with external ABS skins and an internal PLA honeycomb core using different extruders for the two materials, and sandwich specimens where two different extruders have been employed for PLA material used for skins and for the internal honeycomb core. For all the proposed configurations, a detailed description of the production activity is given.Moreover, several preliminary results about three-point bending tests, different mechanical behaviors and relative delamination problems for each sandwich configuration will be discussed in depth.


Polimery ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (2) ◽  
pp. 127-138
Author(s):  
Alberto Baeza-Campuzano ◽  
Victor M. Castaño

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a powerful method for advanced additive manufacturing of polymeric materials, due to its simplicity and low cost. However, the process implies complex phenomena which are not fully understood yet. In particular, the effect of viscosity on the printed thread is a key parameter to control if good quality products are to be obtained. Experimental data of two grades of acrylonitrile-butadiene- styrene copolymer (ABS) was employed to analyse, by using ANSYS Fluent simulation package, six printing velocities at a temperature of 230°C. A drastic temperature change was observed as the printing velocity increases, confirming the effect of viscosity on the shear created on the wall of the nozzle transversal to the printing bed. The polymers analysed present different viscosity behavior even under the same angular frequency range (0.1 to 100 rad/s), and testing temperature (230°C), which could lead to inhomogeneities. Our results allow taking into account these parameters as part of the design criteria.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. e0253181
Author(s):  
Caterina Amendola ◽  
Michele Lacerenza ◽  
Ileana Pirovano ◽  
Davide Contini ◽  
Lorenzo Spinelli ◽  
...  

The interest for Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) in the field of Diffuse Optics (DO) is rapidly increasing. The most widespread FDM materials are polylactic acid (PLA) and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), thanks to their low cost and easiness-to-print. This is why, in this study, 3D printed samples of PLA and ABS materials were optically characterized in the range from the UV up to the IR wavelengths, in order to test their possible employment for probe construction in DO applications. To this purpose, measurements with Near Infrared Spectroscopy and Diffuse Correlation Spectroscopy techniques were considered. The results obtained show how the material employed for probe construction can negatively affect the quality of DO measurements.


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