The effect of 3D structure design on fire behavior of polyethylene terephthalate glycol containing aluminum hypophosphite and melamine cyanurate

Abstract

Effect of the shape of 3D printed samples on fire behavior of polyethylene terephthalate glycol (PET‐G) and PET‐G additivated with a mix of aluminum hypophosphite (AHP) and melamine cyanurate as flame retardant, was investigated. The additives improved fire performance (e.g., maximum average rate of heat emission, total oxygen consumption, heat release rate indices) irrespective of structural complexity, favoring carbonaceous char formation. However, at increasing structural complexity, they promoted higher release of smoke, compared to neat PET‐G, because of a change in the prevalent retardation mechanism, which became dominated by the flame inhibition action of AHP. Consequently, the synergistic effect obtained combining the two additives, was hindered. Impact of product design on mechanisms of fire retardation helps in devising engineering solutions aimed at meeting required level of fire‐safety performance, which should be tailored to the specific product.

Impact of additive manufacturing on reaction to fire

“…All the other works combining fire retardancy and 3D printing were related to FDM technologies and most of them mainly focused on new material development. [20][21][22][23][24] Hohenwarter et al 25 and Za´rybnicka´et al 26 27 were the first to investigate multi-component systems to improve fire performances of 3D printed samples. They additively manufactured their part with different designs with a low infill percentage.…”

“…Hohenwarter et al 25 and Zárybnická et al 26 investigated the impact of the infill percentage on fire properties. Hohenwarten et al .…”

Polymer Composites Based on Glycol-Modified Poly(Ethylene Terephthalate) Applied to Additive Manufacturing Using Melted and Extruded Manufacturing Technology

“…Modification of the material with glycol allows fibers to be obtained that are less brittle, easier to print, and more transparent in the case of transparent versions of this material. PET-G forms a durable material with good mechanical properties [19]. The material has a low thermal expansion; therefore, it is an ideal raw material for the production of complex details and, above all, larger models.…”

Investigation on thermal properties and flame retardancy of glass‐fiber reinforced poly(butylene succinate) composites filled with aluminum hypophosphite and melamine cyanurate

“…Besides, much more efforts have been devoted to experimenting with many novel functional additives for combustion suppression as well, such as nano‐boehmite, 21 surface modified montmorillonite, 22,23 graphene oxide, 24,25 attapulgite, 26 and steel slag waste 27,28 . By contrast, as a new type of flame retardant with high phosphorus content, aluminum hypophosphite (AHP) has been given more preference and proved well to be a quite excellent flame retardant, 29–33 especially synergistically compounding with the nitrogen‐based melamine cyanurate (MC), which could significantly improve the flame retardance for various polymer‐based composites, according to many published related papers. For instance, Zhao et al 34 reported that the fire performance of polypropylene (PP)/wood flour (WF) composite could be significantly enhanced based on the 20 wt% addition of AHP/MC with the mass ratio about 5:1, and the UL‐94 achieved V‐0 rating and LOI value increased to 29.5% dramatically.…”