Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the potential of three-dimensional printing technology for the remanufacturing of end-of-life (EoL) composites. This technology will enable the rapid fabrication of environmentally sustainable structures with complex shapes and good mechanical properties. These three-dimensional printed objects will have several application fields, such as street furniture and urban renewal, thus promoting a circular economy model. Design/methodology/approach For this purpose, a low-cost liquid deposition modeling technology was used to extrude photo-curable and thermally curable composite inks, composed of an acrylate-based resin loaded with different amounts of mechanically recycled glass fiber reinforced composites (GFRCs). Rheological properties of the extruded inks and their printability window and the conversion of cured composites after an ultraviolet light (UV) assisted extrusion were investigated. In addition, tensile properties of composites remanufactured by this UV-assisted technology were studied. Findings A printability window was found for the three-dimensional printable GFRCs inks. The formulation of the composite printable inks was optimized to obtain high quality printed objects with a high content of recycled GFRCs. Tensile tests also showed promising mechanical properties for printed GFRCs obtained with this approach. Originality/value The novelty of this paper consists in the remanufacturing of GFRCs by the three-dimensional printing technology to promote the implementation of a circular economy. This study shows the feasibility of this approach, using mechanically recycled EoL GFRCs, composed of a thermoset polymer matrix, which cannot be melted as in case of thermoplastic-based composites. Objects with complex shapes were three-dimensional printed and presented here as a proof-of-concept.
Highlights
Over the past century, the impact of human activity on the environment has been enormously increasing (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996)
The glass content of the recycled powder was evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and the corresponding curves are shown in the supplementary material (Figure S1)
Several tests were performed in this study to evaluate the optimal parameters for three-dimensional printing of materials with different concentrations of recycled glass fiber reinforced composites (GFRCs) and rheological behaviors
Summary
The impact of human activity on the environment has been enormously increasing (Wackernagel and Rees, 1996). The extensive exploitation of fossil derivatives for the production of polymer materials is an example of the humanity role played in this respect (Sikdar, 2003). The recyclability of fiber-reinforced polymers, which are a peculiar class of engineering materials, is dramatically poor when compared to commodity thermoplastics because of their inherent multi-material nature (Yang et al, 2012). An increasing amount of these products is reaching their EoL, which usually occurs after periods of 10 years for recreational boats and 30 years for sails and wind turbine blades[1]. The question of how to recover, recycle and reuse composites needs to be addressed (Pickering, 2006; Yang et al, 2012)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
