Manufacture of thermoplastic molds by fused filament fabrication 3D printing for rapid prototyping of polyurethane foam molded products

Abstract

Purpose Polyurethane (PUR) foam parts are traditionally manufactured using metallic molds, an unsuitable approach for prototyping purposes. Thus, rapid tooling of disposable molds using fused filament fabrication (FFF) with polylactic acid (PLA) and glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG) is proposed as an economical, simpler and faster solution compared to traditional metallic molds or three-dimensional (3D) printing with other difficult-to-print thermoplastics, which are prone to shrinkage and delamination (acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, polypropilene-PP) or high-cost due to both material and printing equipment expenses (PEEK, polyamides or polycarbonate-PC). The purpose of this study has been to evaluate the ease of release of PUR foam on these materials in combination with release agents to facilitate the mulding/demoulding process. Design/methodology/approach PETG, PLA and hardenable polylactic acid (PLA 3D870) have been evaluated as mold materials in combination with aqueous and solvent-based release agents within a full design of experiments by three consecutive molding/demolding cycles. Findings PLA 3D870 has shown the best demoldability. A mold expressly designed to manufacture a foam cushion has been printed and the prototyping has been successfully achieved. The demolding of the part has been easier using a solvent-based release agent, meanwhile the quality has been better when using a water-based one. Originality/value The combination of PLA 3D870 and FFF, along with solvent-free water-based release agents, presents a compelling low-cost and eco-friendly alternative to traditional metallic molds and other 3D printing thermoplastics. This innovative approach serves as a viable option for rapid tooling in PUR foam molding.

Utilizing in-nozzle impregnation for enhancing the strength of recycled PET-derived 3D printed continuous banana fiber reinforced bio-composites

“…The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at: https://www.emerald.com/insight/1355-2546.htm functionalities based on engineered features for different application such as rapid tooling of disposable molds (Guerrero-Vacas et al, 2024), scaffolds for tissue engineering (Goranov et al, 2020;Higuera et al, 2021), aerospace (Mosaddek et al, 2018) and many more applications (Demir and Seki, 2023;Mishra et al, 2023a).…”

“…In this process, a continuous filament of thermoplastic material is extruded through a heated nozzle, which traverses along a predetermined path to systematically fabricate the desired object layer-by-layer (Kumar et al , 2024; Kumar and Negi, 2023a). This technique is mainly used to fabricate 3D structures with tailored properties and integrated functionalities based on engineered features for different application such as rapid tooling of disposable molds (Guerrero-Vacas et al , 2024), scaffolds for tissue engineering (Goranov et al , 2020; Higuera et al , 2021), aerospace (Mosaddek et al , 2018) and many more applications (Demir and Seki, 2023; Mishra et al , 2023a).…”