On FFF-based 3D printing of wear resistive ABS-Graphene nanocomposites for rapid tooling in wet condition

Abstract

Rapid tooling is the most important output of the additive manufacturing processes. The tribological, physical, and mechanical strength of the rapid tooling must be adequate for such applications. However, if rapid tooling is subjected to applications in wet atmospheric conditions, hydrophobicity must be considered to repel the water intake causing the collection of dirt and cleanness issues. The present study focused on investigations of the wear, hydrophobic and morphological parameters of 3D printed rapid tools. In the first stage, the acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)-Graphene composite is manufactured (in filament form of 1.75 ± 0.10 mm size) by varying the graphene loading (1–2 % by weight %), extrusion temperature (200–210 °C) and screw rotational speed (3-9RPM) on Taguchi L9 orthogonal array. The results revealed the wear rate of 0.00141 g/N-m when rapid tooling was 3D printed by taking filaments manufactured at parametric combination of 2.0 % Graphene loading, 200 °C extrusion temperature and 9RPM. The significantly increased hydrophobicity and wear resistance of ABS-Graphene composite as compared to pure ABS shows promising and potential candidates to be used for rapid tooling in wet conditions. The results are supported by morphological analysis of Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).