Experimental Investigation on Effect of Temperature on FDM 3D Printing Polymers: ABS, PETG, and PLA

Abstract

Four-dimensional printing is a process in which a 3D-printed object is intentionally transformed in response to an external stimulus such as temperature, which is useful when the final geometry of a 3D-printed part is not easily manufacturable. One method to demonstrate this is to print a part made of thin strips of material on a sheet of paper, heat the part, and allow it to cool. This causes the part to curl due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of the paper and plastic. In an attempt to quantify the effect of different temperatures on various materials, samples of three common 3D printing filaments, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PETG), and polylactic acid (PLA), were heated at different temperatures (85 °C, 105 °C, and 125 °C) for intervals of 15 min and then allowed to cool until curling stopped. This heating and cooling cycle was repeated three times for each sample to determine if repeated heating and cooling influenced the curling. Each sample was filmed as it was cooling, which allowed the radius of curvature to be measured by tracking the uppermost point of the part, knowing the arc length, and calibrating the video based on a known linear length. After three cycles, all three materials showed a decrease in the radius of curvature (tighter curl) as heating temperature increased, with PLA showing the trend much more predominantly than ABS and PETG. Furthermore, for PETG and PLA, the radius of curvature decreased with each cycle at all temperatures, with the decrease being more significant from cycle 1 to 2 than cycle 2 to 3. Conversely, ABS only shared this trend at 125 °C. The findings of this work can provide guidelines to users on the temperature dosage for the mass manufacturing of complex geometries such as packaging, self-assembly robots, and drug delivery applications.

Evaluation of the Viability of 3D Printing in Recycling Polymers

“…FDM involves melting a polymer and dropping it in a modeling orifice or mold [ 73 ]. A drop of the molten polymer is consistently added to the FDM machine until the desired material shape and size are achieved [ 74 ].…”

“…The findings consistently demonstrate that combining recycled polymers can produce 3D printing filaments with exemplary mechanical properties. Nonetheless, according to Mendenhall and Eslami [ 73 ], repeated heating reduces the radius of curvature of the material. Per Figure 3 , [ 73 ] demonstrated that the radius of curvature decreases as the material is heated repeatedly at gradually increasing temperatures.…”

“…Nonetheless, according to Mendenhall and Eslami [ 73 ], repeated heating reduces the radius of curvature of the material. Per Figure 3 , [ 73 ] demonstrated that the radius of curvature decreases as the material is heated repeatedly at gradually increasing temperatures. ABS and PLA exhibit the properties at temperatures of about 125 °C [ 73 ].…”

“…Per Figure 3 , [ 73 ] demonstrated that the radius of curvature decreases as the material is heated repeatedly at gradually increasing temperatures. ABS and PLA exhibit the properties at temperatures of about 125 °C [ 73 ]. Therefore, while the 3D printed recycled polymers exhibit strength comparable to that of virgin filaments, it cannot be curved at a larger radius because it is likely to fail or break.…”

“… The Impact of Increasing Temperature and Content of Virgin Polypropylene on the Molecular Structure of Recycled Propylene [ 73 ]. …”