Evaluation of wash colour strength of a printed garment with flexible filaments on 3D printers

Abstract

The research aims to evaluate the solidity of the washing colour of a garment printed with flexible filaments on 3D printers. Three groups of factors have been selected: Anet A8 and M3D Crane Quad printer, temperature (49° and 71°C) and flexible filaments TPE (thermoplastic elastomer) and TPU (polyurethane thermoplastic), framed in the factorial design, type applied of 10 units per combination of factors in a total of 80 sampling units, using Girowah equipment according to the technical standard AATCC TM61-2020. The results show that the printer factors Anet A8 and M3D Crane Quad with the CIELab and CMC (2:1) discolouration system exceed 50% in both the tolerances of the value 1. About the temperature factor (49° and 71°C), which exhibits a discolouration of 1.06 in CIE94 and 1.36 in CMC, it is determined that the combination with better resistance to discolouration of solidity at washing (CIE94 - 49°C) compared to CMC (2:1) better establishes the visual and technical concordance of the solidity of colour. As regards flexible filament types: TPE and TPU, the results show us that the colour tolerance assessments (CIELab CIE94) and (CMC (2,1)) prove that the TPE filament has greater resistance to the discoloration of the 3D-printed garment at different temperatures. In conclusion, the solidity of colour washing in a printed garment with flexible filaments in a 3D printer causes discolouration by the minimum, be it the factors of printer type, filament, and temperature. There is a need for analysis with other values and it remains open to other research.