An experimental study on the properties changing in recyclable fiber‐reinforced 3D printing

Abstract

Continuous fiber‐reinforced composites 3D printing can significantly improve strength but make materialize recycling more difficult. This study explores the feasibility of recycling and remanufacturing in practical applications by simulating the change in mechanical properties during outdoor aging of continuous aramid fiber‐reinforced 3D printed parts. First, a Fermat's Spiral based globally continuous path was used to fabricate recyclable fiber‐reinforced prints. Then, the continuous aramid fiber‐reinforced PLA (CF/PLA) composites were recycled from the printed parts and re‐impregnated in the subsequent production. Finally, the CF/PLA composite specimens were exposed to UV irradiation and moisture cycling in an aging test chamber, and the aging process of the whole experiment lasted for 516 h. It was found that for the first recycled and remanufactured specimens, the tensile strength was 204 MPa, which was higher than that of the originally printed specimens (196 MPa), and the flexural strength and modulus were 159 MPa and 6.4 GPa, higher than those of original specimens, which were 141 MPa and 5.6 GPa, an increase of 12.77% and 14.29%, respectively. For the specimens aged 172, 344, and 516 h, the tensile strength increased by 4.32%, 3.60%, and 17.36%, respectively after recycling and remanufacturing. The reduction rate of the tensile strength of the remanufactured specimens was 15.3% lower than that of the raw materials in the aging process. Our experiments estimated the change in properties of remanufactured specimens from recycled fiber‐reinforced materials after natural aging, demonstrating the feasibility of the manufacturing process for recycled fiber‐reinforced materials in practical applications.

Effects of fabrication parameters on the mechanical properties of short basalt‐fiber‐reinforced thermoplastic composites for fused deposition modeling‐based 3D printing

“…[3,20,28,31,32] FDM is a long-term manufacturing process for fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites, and the development of green recyclable fibers and matrices for FDM fabrication is essential. [5,13,14,33] Thus, natural fibers such as flax, jute, basalt, and bamboo have received increasing attention for their eco-friendliness and sustainability. [5,6,[34][35][36][37][38] Wherein, basalt fiber (BF), produced by abundant natural basalt rocks which come from the volcanic rock of frozen lava.…”

“…[ 5,11–13 ] Compared with other AM methods, FDM is an attractive 3D printing method used in developing pure plastic parts, as it offers many advantages, including cost savings and easy material replacement. [ 3,14 ]…”

“…These thermoplastic polymer materials mainly include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), polyamide (PA), and poly‐ether‐ether‐ketone. [ 14–21 ] Most pure plastic products built from FDM can serve only as conceptual prototypes because they usually lack functionality and strength, thus limiting their use of FDM polymers. [ 2,3,22,23 ]…”

“…[5,[11][12][13] Compared with other AM methods, FDM is an attractive 3D printing method used in developing pure plastic parts, as it offers many advantages, including cost savings and easy material replacement. [3,14] However, only thermoplastic filaments can be used as feedstock during FDM fabrication. These thermoplastic polymer materials mainly include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), polyamide (PA), and poly-ether-ether-ketone.…”

“…These thermoplastic polymer materials mainly include acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA), polyamide (PA), and poly-ether-ether-ketone. [14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Most pure plastic products built from FDM can serve only as conceptual prototypes because they usually lack functionality and strength, thus limiting their use of FDM polymers. [2,3,22,23] To improve the mechanical performance of FDMprinted parts, a feasible method is to add reinforcements such as short or continuous fibers [3,6,21,24,25] and nanoparticles [8,26,27] into the thermoplastic matrix.…”