Comparison of human health, energy consumption, and carbon emission with virgin and recycled filament in Fused deposition modeling printing

Abstract

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) three-dimensional (3D) printing is commonly used by small factories, entrants, and families owing to its ease of use and speed. However, certain studies have shown that during the manufacturing process, particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are harmful to the respiratory system, and that carbon emissions associated with energy consumption can contribute to global warming. These studies considered only virgin filaments and not recycled filaments. Considering the importance of plastic recycling for achieving circular economy targets, the sustainability of recycled filaments much be investigated. This study used grey relational analysis to determine the multi-objective optimal printing parameters for virgin and recycled filaments on the human health and carbon emissions impacts and thus provide a reference for the “circularization” of filament materials. The experimental results indicate that the orientation angle, layer height, and heatbed temperature are the three most important parameters affecting human health and carbon emissions in recycled filaments. The optimal printing parameters showed an improvement of 20.24 % for all objectives, and the PM reached 54.02 %. Furthermore, based on a life-cycle assessment, the use of optimal printing parameters can decrease lifecycle emissions by 21.7 %.