Investigations on Chemical Assisted Mechanically Blended 3D Printed Functional Prototypes of PVDF-BaTiO3-Gr Composite

Abstract

In this research work smart materials based feedstock filament has been prepared by chemical assisted mechanical blending (CAMB) method. Initially, a composite of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) reinforced with barium titanate (BaTiO3) and graphene (Gr) has been developed by solvent casting process. The developed composite has been processed on twin screw extruder (TSE) for mechanical blending and fabrication of feedstock filament. Further, the prepared filament was used to run on existing low cost fused deposition modeling (FDM) setup. A dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) was performed on 3D printed specimens to obtain the storage and loss modulus of the developed composite. The results of DMA highlighted that sample 3D printed at infill speed (IS) 70mm/s, infill angle (IA) 45° with 100% infill density (ID) shown better storage modulus (1.5 × 10^3 MPa) as compared to part prepared at IS 90mm/sec, IA 45° and 60% infill density. Moreover, sample fabricated at low IS and high ID level, dissipates low mechanical energy under identical cyclic loading conditions.