It is believed that the structure and properties of parts fabricated by additive (i.e., non-stationary) manufacturing are slightly worse compared to hot pressing. To further proceed with improving the quality of Fused Deposition Modeling 3D-printed parts, the ‘UHMWPE + 17 wt.% HDPE-g-SMA + 12 wt.% PP’ composite feedstock fabrication parameters, by the twin-screw extruder compounding and 3D printing (the Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) process), were optimized using the Taguchi method. The optimization was carried out over the results of mechanical tests. The obtained results were interpreted in terms of (1) the uniformity of mixing of the polymer components upon compounding and (2) the homogeneity of the structure formed by the 3D printing. The values of the main factors (the processing parameters) were determined using the Taguchi method. Their application made it possible to improve the physical, mechanical, and tribological properties of the samples manufactured by the FDM method at the level of neat UHMWPE as well as the UHMWPE-based composites fabricated by compression sintering. A comparative analysis of the structure, as well as the mechanical and tribological properties of the composite obtained by the FDM method, and the hot pressing from ‘optimized’ feedstock was performed. The ‘UHMWPE + 17 wt.% HDPE-g-SMA + 12 wt.% PP’ composites fabricated by the optimal compounding and 3D printing parameters can be implemented for the additive manufacturing of complex shape products (including medical implants, transport, mining, and processing industries; in particular, in the Far North).

In this work, we study the efficiency of electron absorption by the plastic samples produced using 3D printing with different infill densities. We investigate the influence of the print layer orientation relative to the electron beam axis on the radiation dose distribution. It is possible to produce plastic samples with different infill by fused deposition modelling. Ten polymer test samples with the infill density ranging from 10% to 100% are printed and studied experimentally using a 6 MeV electron beam of an MIB-6E betatron. GafChromic EBT3 films are used for the dose measurement. When the infill is above 70%, the difference of dose distribution uniformity cannot be distinguished for the two print layer orientations. Therefore, these samples can be used for electron beam formation.