posted on 2020-07-10, 13:50authored byMazher MohammedMazher Mohammed, Anirudra Das, Eli Gomez-Kervin, Daniel Wilson, Ian Gibson
Many commonly found polymers have the potential to be recycled, such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), a prevalent 3D printing material. In this study we examine the potential of using 100% recycled ABS to form filaments for use in Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printing. We then characterise the resulting changes in the printing quality and mechanical properties, over a single recycling cycle. We found that ABS can undergo recycling and reforming into consistent printer filaments without the addition of virgin material. However, notable changes in polymer characteristics were observed, reflected by degradation in mechanical properties during tensile tests and a decrease in the polymer melt flow, which required reduced raster speed to achieve repeatable prints. Despite these limitations, we demonstrate that recycling and reprinting is possible with acceptable loss of material integrity, and could provide unique opportunities for sustainable use of waste ABS using 3D printing technology.
History
School
Design
Published in
Solid Freeform Fabrication 2017: Proceedings of the 28th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference, SFF 2017
Pages
532 - 542
Source
2017 28th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium – An Additive Manufacturing Conference