Feasibility study on additive manufacturing of recyclable objects for space applications

Fateri, Miranda; Kaouk, A.; Cowley, Aidan; Siarov, Stefan; Palou, Manel Vera; Gonzalez, F.; Marchant, R.; Cristoforetti, S.; Sperl, Matthias

doi:10.1016/j.addma.2018.09.020

Cited by 37 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…The material properties were almost the same after being recycled and re-manufactured. This study also proved that recycling is possible in space and should be done on all space missions (Fateri et al , 2018).…”

Section: Additive Manufacturing In Spacesupporting

confidence: 56%

Opportunities and challenges in additive manufacturing used in space sector:a comprehensive review

Ishfaq

Asad

Mahmood

et al. 2021

RPJ

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Purpose The purpose of this study is to compile the successful implementation of three-dimensional (3D) printing in the space for the manufacturing of complex parts. 3D printing is an additive manufacturing (AM) technique that uses metallic powder, ceramic, or polymers to build simple/complex parts. The parts produced possess good strength, low weight, excellent mechanical properties and are cost-effective. This saves a considerable amount of both time and carrying cost. Thereof the challenges and opportunities that the space sector holds for AM is worth reviewing to provide a better insight into further developments and prospects for this technology. Design/methodology/approach The potentiality of 3D printing for the manufacturing of various components under space conditions has been explained. Here, the authors have reviewed the details of manufactured parts used for zero gravity missions, subjected to onboard International Space Station conditions and with those manufactured on earth. Followed by the major opportunities in 3D printing in space which include component repair, material characterization, process improvement and process development along with the new designs. The challenges such as space conditions, availability of power in space, the infrastructure requirements and the quality control or testing of the items that are being built in space are explained along with their possible mitigation strategies. Findings These components are well comparable with those prepared on earth which enables a massive cost saving. Other than the onboard manufacturing process, numerous other components and a complete robot/satellite for outer space applications were manufactured by AM. Moreover, these components can be recycled on board to produce feedstock for the next materials. The parts produced in space are bought back and compared with those built on earth. There is a difference in their nature i.e. the flight specimen showed a brittle nature and the ground specimen showed a denser nature. Originality/value The review discusses the advancements of 3D printing in space and provides numerous examples of the applications of 3D printing in space and space applications. The paper is solely dedicated to 3D printing in space. It provides a breakthrough in the literature as a limited amount of literature is available on this topic. The paper aims at highlighting all the challenges that AM faces in the space sector and also the future opportunities that await development.

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Section: Additive Manufacturing In Spacesupporting

confidence: 56%

Opportunities and challenges in additive manufacturing used in space sector:a comprehensive review

Ishfaq

Asad

Mahmood

et al. 2021

RPJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…When considering more remanufacturing cycles, though, Cruz Sanchez et al [37] showed that neat PLA is very prone to material degradation, as the tensile strength of 3D-printed samples deteriorated by approximately 40% after only five remanufacturing cycles. Although plenty of studies have recently investigated the processability of complex recycled regional postconsumer waste by FFF and have even recommended the use of so-called RecycleBots [38,39,40], such as blends of polyethylene [39,41,42,43,44,45], polypropylene (PP) [44,46,47,48,49,50], polyethylene terephthalate (PET) [49,50,51], acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) [49,52], poly(lactic acid) (PLA) [49,53], polystyrene (PS) [50], polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) [54], or polyamide (PA) [55], the effect of multiple AM and filament extrusion sequences on the processability of materials more complex than the standard FFF material PLA, which is known to be susceptible to thermal degradation [9], has not yet been studied. Moreover, neither the positive effect of thermal stabilizers on retaining mechanical strength [56] nor the degradation of a filler–matrix interface with increasing re-extrusion cycles [57] has been confirmed for advanced composites used in FFF.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mechanical Recyclability of Polypropylene Composites Produced by Material Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing

et al. 2019

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Due to a lack of long-term experience with burgeoning material extrusion-based additive manufacturing technology, also known as fused filament fabrication (FFF), considerable amounts of expensive material will continue to be wasted until a defect-free 3D-printed component can be finalized. In order to lead this advanced manufacturing technique toward cleaner production and to save costs, this study addresses the ability to remanufacture a wide range of commercially available filaments. Most of them either tend to degrade by chain scission or crosslinking. Only polypropylene (PP)-based filaments appear to be particularly thermally stable and therefore suitable for multiple remanufacturing sequences. As the extrusion step exerts the largest influence on the material in terms of temperature and shear load, this study focused on the morphological, rheological, thermal, processing, tensile, and impact properties of a promising PP composite in the course of multiple consecutive extrusions as well as the impact of additional heat stabilizers. Even after 15 consecutive filament extrusions, the stabilized additively manufactured PP composite revealed an unaltered morphology and therefore the same tensile and impact strength as the initial material. As the viscosity of the material of the 15th extrusion was nearly identical to that of the 1st extrusion sequence, the processability both in terms of extrusion and FFF was outstanding, despite the tremendous amount of shear and thermal stress that was undergone. The present work provides key insights into one possible step toward more sustainable production through FFF.

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“…For this purpose, the goal is to fly an In-space Recycler on ISS in 2016 that will enable the astronauts to manufacture components on their own while using the previous components as stock feed (Werkheiser, 2014). Fateri et al (2018) did a feasibility study on the AM of recyclable materials in space. It was concluded that the solvent cast direct-write method using polyvinyl alcohol is a suitable material for AM and recycling in space.…”

Section: Recycling In Spacementioning

confidence: 99%

Opportunities and challenges in additive manufacturing used in space sector: a comprehensive review

Ishfaq

Asad

Mahmood

et al. 2022

RPJ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore the applications of 3D printing in space sectors. The authors have highlighted the potential research gap that can be explored in the current field of study. Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an additive manufacturing technique that uses metallic powder, ceramic or polymers to build simple/complex parts. The parts produced possess good strength, low weight and excellent mechanical properties and are cost-effective. Therefore, efforts have been made to make the adoption of 3D printing successful in space so that complex parts can be manufactured in space. This saves a considerable amount of both time and carrying cost. Thereof the challenges and opportunities that the space sector holds for additive manufacturing is worth reviewing to provide a better insight into further developments and prospects for this technology. Design/methodology/approach The potentiality of 3D printing for the manufacturing of various components under space conditions has been explained. Here, the authors have reviewed the details of manufactured parts used for zero-gravity missions, subjected to onboard international space station conditions and with those manufactured on earth. Followed by the major opportunities in 3D printing in space which include component repair, material characterization, process improvement and process development along with the new designs. The challenges like space conditions, availability of power in space, the infrastructure requirements and the quality control or testing of the items that are being built in space are explained along with their possible mitigation strategies. Findings These components are well comparable with those prepared on earth which enables a massive cost saving. Other than the onboard manufacturing process, numerous other components as well as a complete robot/satellite for outer space applications were manufactured by additive manufacturing. Moreover, these components can be recycled onboard to produce feedstock for the next materials. The parts produced in space are bought back and compared with those built on earth. There is a difference in their nature, i.e. the flight specimen showed a brittle nature, and the ground specimen showed a denser nature. Originality/value This review discusses the advancements of 3D printing in space and provides numerous examples of the applications of 3D printing in space and space applications. This paper is solely dedicated to 3D printing in space. It provides a breakthrough in the literature as a limited amount of literature is available on this topic. This paper aims at highlighting all the challenges that additive manufacturing faces in the space sector and also the future opportunities that await development.

show abstract

Feasibility study on additive manufacturing of recyclable objects for space applications

Cited by 37 publications

References 16 publications

Opportunities and challenges in additive manufacturing used in space sector:a comprehensive review

Opportunities and challenges in additive manufacturing used in space sector:a comprehensive review

Mechanical Recyclability of Polypropylene Composites Produced by Material Extrusion-Based Additive Manufacturing

Opportunities and challenges in additive manufacturing used in space sector: a comprehensive review

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