Development of Pure Poly Vinyl Chloride (PVC) with Excellent 3D Printability and Macro- and Micro-Structural Properties

Unmodified polyvinyl chloride (PVC) has low thermal stability and high hardness. Therefore, using plasticizers as well as thermal stabilizers is inevitable, while it causes serious environmental and health issues. In this work, for the first time, pure food-grade PVC with potential biomedical applications is processed and 3D printed. Samples are successfully 3D printed using different printing parameters, including velocity, raster angle, nozzle diameter, and layer thickness, and their mechanical properties are investigated in compression, bending, and tension modes. Scanning electron microscopy is also used to evaluate the bonding and microstructure of the printed layers. Among the mentioned printing parameters, raster angle and printing velocity influence the mechanical properties significantly, whereas the layer thickness and nozzle diameter has a little effect. Images from scanning electron microscopy  also reveal that printing velocity greatly affects the final part's quality regarding defective voids and rasters’ bonding. The maximum tensile strength of 88.55 MPa is achieved, which implies the superiority of 3D-printed PVC mechanical properties compared to other commercial filaments. This study opens an avenue to additively manufacture PVC that is the second most-consumed polymer with cost-effective and high-strength features.     

非溶剂致相分离3D打印聚合物的成型工艺研究

采用自行搭建的湿度可控的气辅式三维（3D）打印机,基于非溶剂致相分离原理,实现了常温下、高精度、低成本3D打印耐高温的聚合物材料。以聚醚酰亚胺（PEI）为例,探究了挤出压力、喷头直径、打印速度、打印环境相对湿度、打印层高等打印参数对成型质量的影响。结果表明,挤出丝料的宽度与打印速度、环境相对湿度有关,随打印速度和环境相对湿度的增大而减小;打印层高与挤出丝料的厚度有关,打印层高约等于挤出丝料的厚度的时,成型质量最好;通过多层沉积实验,得到最优的打印参数,成型了表面质量良好、精度高的PEI坯体。     

Experimental research of drop‐on‐demand droplet jetting 3D printing with molten polymer

Three‐dimensional (3D) printing technology has become an effective method for parts manufacturing and got a certain application in many fields. Now, drop‐on‐demand droplet jetting 3D printing appears as a new method of manufacturing technology which has a proven research progress for metal, colloid, and liquid resin materials. However, there are hardly any researches of droplet jetting 3D printing with molten polymer. So, considering molten polymer as the jetting material with droplet jetting method is an explorative direction. In order to attain the molten polymer droplets and achieve droplet jetting 3D printing with molten polymer, the 3D printing technology of differential melt (3DPDM) is developed independently. According to 3DPDM, a complete set of drop‐on‐demand droplet jetting 3D printer have been developed. In this work, PP (6820) was chosen as the experimental material. Under the different print parameters such as the rotation speed of screw, nozzle diameter, mechanical impact frequency, heating temperature, the space between nozzle and platform, the form, and deposition of droplets were studied. Furthermore, the optimal print parameters were summarized. By printing models with the optimal print parameters, it turned out that the 3DPDM is able to achieve drop‐on‐demand droplet jetting 3D printing with molten polymer. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2018 , 135, 45933.     

Optimization of 3D printing parameters for high-performance biodegradable materials

Developing 3D printing high-performance biodegradable materials is important to protect the environment and deal with emergencies such as COVID-19. Fused deposition modeling (FDM), one of the 3D printing methods, has many advantages, such as low cost and wide range of materials. However, the weak interlayer adhesion is an important factor restricting the development of FDM. In addition to the influence of material properties, the optimization of 3D printing parameters is also an important means to give full play to the inherent properties of materials. The optimal 3D printing parameters are conducive to the diffusion and entanglement of molecular chains between adjacent layers. PLA/PBAT/PLA-g-GMA (70/30/10 wt%, PLA-g-GMA was a compatibilizer synthesized in our lab) was used as the research object. This work aims to analyze the mechanical properties response of biodegradable polymers products manufactured through FDM. Herein, the effect of 3D printing parameters including layer thickness, nozzle temperature, printing speed and platform temperature have been systematically investigated by orthogonal experimental design. The result showed that the excellent performance of 3D printing specimen was obtained when the layer thickness was 0.15 mm, the printing speed was 50 mm·s⁻¹, the nozzle temperature was 200°C and the platform temperature was 50°C. The SEM images showed that the optimal 3D printing products had the best interlayer adhesion and the lowest porosity. Undergoing optimization of 3D printing processing, the yield strength and elongation at break of specimen increased by 115% and 229%, respectively. In this paper, the interlayer adhesion and mechanical properties of 3D printing products can be significantly improved by simply optimizing the 3D printing parameters without complex material modification. This work provided a new method for improving the interlayer adhesion of FDM and the mechanical properties of FDM products.     

Experimental investigation and optimization of printing parameters of 3D printed polyphenylene sulfide through response surface methodology

Today fused filament fabrication is one of the most widely used additive manufacturing techniques to manufacture high performance materials. This method entails a complexity associated with the selection of their appropriate manufacturing parameters. Due to the potential to replace poly-ether-ether-ketone in many engineering components, polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) was selected in this study as a base material for 3D printing. Using central composite design and response surface methodology (RSM), nozzle temperature (T), printing speed (S), and layer thickness (L) were systematically studied to optimize the output responses namely Young's modulus, tensile strength, and degree of crystallinity. The results showed that the layer thickness was the most influential printing parameter on Young's modulus and degree of crystallinity. According to RSM, the optimum factor levels were achieved at 338°C nozzle temperature, 30 mm/s printing speed, and 0.17 mm layer thickness. The optimized post printed PPS parts were then annealed at various temperatures to erase thermal residual stress generated during the printing process and to improve the degree of crystallinity of printed PPS's parts. Results showed that annealing parts at 200°C for 1 hr improved significantly the thermal, structural, and tensile properties of printed PPS's parts.     

FDM 3D打印工艺参数对PLA制件力学性能的影响

采用五因素四水平正交试验设计,对16组不同工艺参数(打印层厚、填充密度、打印温度、填充速度、外壳厚度)的FDM 3D打印聚乳酸(PLA)制件力学性能进行了测试和结果分析,确定了影响PLA制件力学性能的主要因素,其中,外壳厚度对制件力学性能影响最为明显,打印温度影响最小,同时分析得到了在打印层厚0.15 mm,填充密度40%,打印温度210℃,填充速度60 mm/s,外壳厚度1.6 mm条件下可获得力学性能最佳的制件。最后对试验数据进行回归分析,拟合得到了FDM打印工艺参数与PLA制件力学性能指标的数学模型;通过对不同打印工艺参数的试样进行试验验证,表明该模型拟合误差小(5%以内),可靠性高,可用来对FDM 3D打印制件的加工提供参考。     

ABS的3D打印制品表面质量研究

采用熔融沉积成型(FDM)三维(3D)打印技术成形丁二烯-丙烯腈-苯乙烯共聚物(ABS)制件,探究喷嘴挤出温度及层高变化对制件表面质量的影响.针对不同的挤出温度、层高等打印工艺参数,制备形状、尺寸一致的多组制件,使用形状测量激光显微镜对制件的表面形貌数据进行了采集并对分析,得出了算术平均高度(Sa)、最大高度(Sz)、...     

连续玻璃纤维增强PLA复合材料3D打印技术研究

以聚乳酸(PLA)为基体,连续玻璃纤维为增强体,采用熔融浸渍工艺制备连续玻璃纤维预浸丝,将制得的预浸丝作为3D打印耗材用于熔融沉积(FDM)的3D技术来制备连续玻璃纤维增强PLA复合材料试样,并研究了打印温度、层厚和打印速度对复合材料力学性能的影响。结果表明,当打印层厚为0. 5 mm,打印温度为230℃,打印速度为2 mm/s时,连续玻璃纤维增强PLA复合材料的弯曲性能最佳,弯曲强度和弯曲模量分别为327. 84 MPa和20. 293 GPa。综合考虑复合材料的力学性能、表面质量和尺寸稳定性,连续玻璃纤维增强PLA复合材料的最佳打印层厚为0. 5 mm,适宜的打印温度范围为200~220℃,打印速度范围为2~4 mm/s。     

Material extrusion additive manufacturing of advanced ceramics: Towards the production of large components

Thermoplastic extrusion based additive manufacturing (MEX-AM), is a very interesting fabrication method for the shaping of larger ceramic parts. Commercial filaments are currently available in the market, but due to the lack of information from the suppliers, it is not easy to select the suitable filament material for the 3D printing of individual ceramic objects. In this study, three commercial yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) filaments provided by Fabru GmbH, SiCeram GmbH and PT+A GmbH were investigated. According to our results, it is possible to print YSZ filaments with extremely different flexibility and rheological properties. Compared to the other two filaments, the Fabru filament resulted in significantly higher flexibility, but the extrusion pressure to print it through a 0.25 mm nozzle was significantly higher at 150 °C. Interestingly, in the SiCeram filament, a grain orientation effect could be observed. Based on STA analysis it can be assumed that for the Fabru filament, the polymer which decomposes at a high temperature can already be removed by solvent debinding (SD). Finally, 70 mm tall cup structure including overhang features and different wall thicknesses was used to evaluate the printing and post-processing of YSZ filaments.     

打印温度对3D打印用黄芪药渣/聚乳酸材料性能的影响

为了探究黄芪药渣/聚乳酸(APS/PLA)材料3D打印过程中打印温度参数对产品性能的影响,以熔融挤出法制备了黄芪药渣/聚乳酸复合材料(APS/PLA-CM)线材,采用熔融沉积成型(FDM)-3D打印工艺打印试样,研究了打印温度对复合材料力学性能及热性能的影响.通过力学测试及扫描电子显微镜(S EM)观察层间结合情况发现...     

The effects of processing parameters on the morphology of PLA/PEG melt electrospun fibers

Electrospinning of a polymer melt is an ideal technique to produce highly porous nanofibrous or microfibrous scaffolds appropriate for biomedical applications. In recent decades, melt electrospinning has been known as an eco‐friendly procedure as it eliminates the cytotoxic effects of the solvents used in solution electrospinning. In this work, the effects of spinning conditions such as temperature, applied voltage, nozzle to collector distance and collector type as well as polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentration on the diameter of melt electrospun polylactic acid (PLA)/PEG fibers were studied. The thermal stability of PLA/PEG blends was monitored through TGA and rheometry. Morphological investigations were carried out via optical and scanning electron microscopy. Based on the results, blends were almost stable over the temperature range of melt electrospinning (170 ? 230 °C) and a short spinning time of 5 min. To obtain non‐woven meshes with uniform fiber morphologies, experimental parameters were optimized using ANOVA. While increasing the temperature, applied voltage and PEG content resulted in thinner fibers, PEG concentration was the most influential factor on the fiber diameter. In addition, a nozzle to collector distance of 10 cm was found to be the most suitable for preparing uniform non‐woven PLA/PEG meshes. At higher PEG concentrations, alterations in the collector distance did not affect the uniformity of fibers, although at lower distances vigorous bending instabilities due to polarity augmentation and viscosity reduction resulted in curly fibrous meshes. Finally, the finest and submicron scale fibers were obtained through melt electrospinning of PLA/PEG (70/30) blend collected on a metallic frame. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry     

Gravure offset printing of polymer inks for conductors

A gravure offset printing process has been developed for Ag-filled polymer conductor ink. Pad printing and roller type printing have been used. Curing and electrical properties have been studied. A roller type of gravure offset printing has been used to evaluate the printing process and pad printing to print on the non-planar substrates. Based on differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and resistivity measurements during ink curing, it was found that the ink had an optimum curing temperature of 140 °C. Square resistance of 300 and 150 μm wide lines can be as low as 20 and 28 mΩ/sq., respectively, for 7–8.5 μm thick line. The minimum line width was 70 μm. This minimum line width can be reduced with different ink solvents, but in this case the line thickness suffers and the square resistance increases, respectively.     

System Analysis of a DoD Print Head for Direct Writing of Conductive Circuits

The inkjet-printing principle is becoming more and more important for new applications besides conventional graphic printing. The target at our institute is to print conductive silver lines and areas of different widths and thicknesses. Based on a drop-on-demand (DoD) micro feeding system, a colloidal ink printer was developed to print conductive circuits. The printer has a stationary piezo-driven print head with a nozzle diameter of 100 μm. With such a nozzle, conductive paths with a width between 110 and 250 μm can be realized. A waveform generator is used to actuate the print head's piezo actuator. The most common control signal is a nearly rectangular voltage pulse. Shape, duration, and amplitude of the piezo control signal influence the stability of the printing process and thus the quality of the printed electrical structures significantly. Different rise and dwell times or pulse shapes can be considered to optimize the printing process. In this article, the piezo control signal's shape is analyzed, varied and the print head's system behavior is characterized. In a performance and signal analysis, the influence of the piezo input signal's shape on the transient behavior of the piezo output energy signal is identified. An optimized piezo control signal shall be achieved. In conclusion, a method is presented to measure droplet parameters such as radius, speed, and volume.     

基于螺杆挤出式工业陶瓷3D打印技术的最佳成型工艺研究

结合现有橡胶挤出机的喂料挤出方式研发出一种适用于工业陶瓷聚合物共混材料的新型三维（3D）打印成型方法。根据工业陶瓷聚合物共混的最佳混合喂料配方,利用自主设计的新型螺杆挤出式3D打印机进行打印成型实验,将输料温度、喷头温度、出料速度、成型平台温度4个因素作为实验变量,采用正交试验打印出实验模型毛坯件,根据所得毛坯件的表面精度和成型品质进而确定出工业陶瓷聚合物共混3D打印最佳成型工艺。     

Performance modulation and 3D printing parameters optimization of implantable medical tricalcium-silicate/polyetherimide composite

Tricalcium silicate (C3S)/polyetherimide (PEI) stents are manufactured through an additive manufacturing process using binder jetting. The key issues of C3S/PEI composite ceramic slurry and additive manufacturing process parameters are discussed in detail. Firstly, the low-temperature auxiliary sintering temperature of the sample was determined, and the influence of PEI content on the compressive strength and bending strength before and after sintering was studied. The sintering temperature and optimal PEI content are 340 °C and 10 wt%. Under this PEI content, the flow rate change during the printing process of the slurry was measured, and a C3S/PEI composite slurry suitable for binder jetting additive manufacturing was obtained, and it had excellent mechanical properties. The effect of the parameters of the binder jetting additive manufacturing process on the molding quality of the C3S/10PEI composite ceramic slurry was studied. The effect of the printed layer height on the deposition line width and height was explored, resulting in a selection rule for the printing layer height using nozzle diameters. The influence of the number of layers of the printed sample on the height and line width of the sample is studied. Under the condition that the height of the printing layer is 80% of the nozzle diameter and the hot air assisted drying, the maximum error of the forming size is only 3.13%. Finally, the biocompatibility and cell adsorption effect of the scaffold were studied, and it was found that the C3S/PEI scaffold, which was additively manufactured by binder jetting and sintered at low temperature, had good biological properties.     

Solvent-Cast 3D Printing of Biodegradable Polymer Scaffolds

3D printing is a popular fabrication technique because of its ability to produce complex architectures. Melt-based 3D printing is widely used for thermoplastic polymers like poly(caprolactone) (PCL), poly(lactic acid) (PLA), and poly(lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) because of their low processing temperatures. However, traditional melt-based techniques require processing temperatures and pressures high enough to achieve continuous flow, limiting the type of polymer that can be printed. Solvent-cast printing (SCP) offers an alternative approach to print a wider range of polymers. Polymers are dissolved in a volatile solvent that evaporates during deposition to produce a solid polymer filament. SCP, therefore, requires optimizing polymer concentration in the ink, print pressure, and print speed to achieve desired print fidelity. Here, capillary flow analysis shows how print pressure affects the process-apparent viscosity of PCL, PLA, and PLGA inks. Ink viscosity is also measured using rheology, which is used to link a specific ink viscosity to a predicted set of print pressure and print speed for all three polymers. These results demonstrate how this approach can be used to accelerate optimization by significantly reducing the number of parameter combinations. This strategy can be applied to other polymers to expand the library of polymers printable with SCP.     

A large‐scale double‐stage‐screw 3D printer for fused deposition of plastic pellets

Fused deposition molding (FDM) is the most popular technology in the fields of three‐dimensional printing, but it is hard to use a variety of plastic materials due to the limitation of filament form of material. Using plastic pellets as printing materials gives advantages in cost, processing speed, and available materials. In this work, a large‐scale double‐screw FDM three‐dimensional printer based on plastic pellets has been designed. It is capable of printing large plastic products at a low cost and high speed. Using ABS + 10%GF as printing material, this work is first focused on the effects of the pressure and speed of the metering screw on the flowrate of melt. The equation for the relationship of these three parameters was established as well. Based on this equation, the effects of melt flow, printing speed, and layer thickness on the width of fused filament were investigated with experiments. Furthermore, the effects of printing spacing between fused filaments on surface accuracy and bonding strength were also explored. By printing models, it was revealed that the designed printer is able to print products with plastic pellets. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45147.     

Improving the ductility of polylactic acid parts produced by fused deposition modeling through polyhydroxyalkanoate additions

Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most commonly used materials for fused deposition modeling (FDM) due to its low cost, biocompatibility, and desirable printing characteristics. However, its low ductility is a major disadvantage for engineering applications where high damage tolerance is needed. This study investigates the feasibility of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) additions to PLA for improving the ductility of parts produced by FDM. Thermal and mechanical behavior of PLA/PHA specimens containing 12 wt % PHA is investigated for a range of printing nozzle temperatures. All PLA/PHA specimens exhibit amorphous PLA phase with semicrystalline PHA and possess outstanding ductility exceeding 160% for nozzle temperatures in the range of 200 °C–240 °C. Lower and higher nozzle temperatures result in low ductility, similar to that of pure PLA. Overall, PLA/PHA is a very promising polymer blend for FDM processes, providing a combination of sufficient strength with excellent damage tolerance. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 48154.     

Optimization of printing parameters for improvement of mechanical and thermal performances of 3D printed poly(ether ether ketone) parts

Many processing parameters can be adjusted to optimize the fused filament fabrication (FFF) process, a popular and widely used additive manufacturing techniques for plastic materials. Among those easily adjusted parameters are the nozzle temperature, printing speed, raster orientation, and layer thicknesses. Using poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) as the base material, a design of experiments analysis was performed on the main FFF parameters. A response surface methodology was applied to analyze the results and to maximize the output responses. Results have shown that the nozzle temperature is the most influential parameter on tensile properties and the crystallinity degree of printed PEEK by FFF process. Parts produced with optimized FFF parameters were then subjected to an annealing treatment to induce a relaxation of residual stress and to enhance crystallinity. The best properties for 3D printed PEEK parts were achieved with annealed parts prepared at 400°C with a printing speed of 30 mm/s, 0.15 mm layer thickness and raster orientation of [0°/15°/−15°]. The resulting parts have mechanical properties comparable to those of injected PEEK.     

3DP process for fine mesh structure printing

Three dimensional printing (3DP) is a unique technique for creating complex shapes. However, printing feature sizes at less than 500 μm with high integrity and intricate structures have not been possible. In this study, TiNiHf shape memory alloy (SMA) powder was printed into 3D mesh structures of 300 μm wire width. Effects of printing layer thickness and binder saturation level on the integrity and dimensional accuracy of the 3D mesh structures were evaluated. 35 μm printing layer thickness and 170% binder saturation level offer the highest mesh structure integrity. Also, 35 μm printing layer thickness results in the smallest dimensional deviation from the designed 200 μm mesh width with the smallest standard deviation. Overall, 35 μm printing layer thickness and 170% binder saturation level are the most preferred printing condition for the designed 3D mesh structure.