3D printing with recycled ABS resin: Effect of blending and printing temperature

Abstract

Recycled acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (RABS) has undesirable thermal properties that cause the material to shrink and not adhere to the printing bed during three-dimensional (3D) printing. In order to address this issue, virgin acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (VABS) of varying weight proportions (i.e., 10–50%) is blended with RABS to fabricate parts at various printing temperatures (i.e., 230 °C, 240 °C, and 250 °C). The study emphasizes to achieve proper inter-layer bonding and enhancing the physical and mechanical characteristics of the final product made from RABS. It was found that blending of VABS up to 40% in RABS with components fabricated at 240 °C resulted in the highest improvement in physical and mechanical properties. The 60% RABS/40%VABS sample printed at 240 °C exhibits improvements in Young's modulus (E), yield strength (σy), and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) by 13.69%, 13.37%, and 15.64%, respectively. Moreover, the RABS sample blended with 20% VABS exhibited comparable flexural results to the 100% VABS samples as blending VABS enhances molecular chain bonding and provides better elasticity to the material.