Abstract
Currently, material extrusion 3D printing (ME3DP) based on fused deposition modeling (FDM) is considered a highly adaptable and efficient additive manufacturing technique to develop components with complex geometries using computer-aided design. While the 3D printing process for a number of thermoplastic materials using FDM technology has been well demonstrated, there still exists a significant challenge to develop new polymeric materials compatible with ME3DP. The present work reports the development of ME3DP compatible thermoplastic elastomeric (TPE) materials from polypropylene (PP) and styrene-(ethylene-butylene)-styrene (SEBS) block copolymers using a straightforward blending approach, which enables the creation of tailorable materials. Properties of the 3D printed TPEs were compared with traditional injection molded samples. The tensile strength and Young’s modulus of the 3D printed sample were lower than the injection molded samples. However, no significant differences could be found in the melt rheological properties at higher frequency ranges or in the dynamic mechanical behavior. The phase morphologies of the 3D printed and injection molded TPEs were correlated with their respective properties. Reinforcing carbon black was used to increase the mechanical performance of the 3D printed TPE, and the balancing of thermoplastic elastomeric and mechanical properties were achieved at a lower carbon black loading. The preferential location of carbon black in the blend phases was theoretically predicted from wetting parameters. This study was made in order to get an insight to the relationship between morphology and properties of the ME3DP compatible PP/SEBS blends.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) or rapid prototyping (RP), commonly referred to as 3D printing, has gained enormous attention in the scientific community as a versatile manufacturing technique due to its inherent ability to print unique and complex geometries using computer aided design [1,2,3,4,5]
It is inferred that only the 40 PP/60 SEBS (w/w) blend composition can be considered a thermoplastic elastomeric (TPE) when compared with the other two compositions. This finding is in line with the reported TPE literature [11]
Banerjee et al prepared nanostructured TPEs from polyamide 6 and fluoroelastomer and they found 40 polyamide 6/60 fluoroelastomer (w/w) composition had the best thermoplastic elastomeric behavior compared with the other various blend compositions [11]
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) or rapid prototyping (RP), commonly referred to as 3D printing, has gained enormous attention in the scientific community as a versatile manufacturing technique due to its inherent ability to print unique and complex geometries using computer aided design [1,2,3,4,5]. Among various other 3D printing technologies, such as selective laser sintering (SLS), direct ink writing (DIW), stereolithography (SLA), digital light processing (DLP), and polyjet, material extrusion 3D printing (ME3DP) based on fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique is considered by far the most versatile technology due to its low cost and convenient production of parts involving complex geometries [6,7,8,9]. In FDM technology, a thermoplastic monofilament is heated to its melting point inside a nozzle and deposited in a layer-by-layer approach at predefined positions onto a build-platform. The major limitation of FDM is the dependence on amorphous polymeric materials as a feedstock and, it suffers from a limited number of thermoplastic choices. While the FDM process for a Polymers 2019, 11, 347; doi:10.3390/polym11020347 www.mdpi.com/journal/polymers
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
