Abstract
Fused filament fabrication (FFF) is currently one of the most popular additive manufacturing processes due to its simplicity and low running and material costs. Support structures, which are necessary for overhanging surfaces during production, in most cases need to be manually removed and as such, they become waste material. In this paper, experimental approach is utilised in order to assess suitability of recycling support structures into recycled filament for FFF process. Mechanical properties of standardized specimens made from recycled polylactic acid (PLA) filament as well as influence of layer height and infill density on those properties were investigated. Optimal printing parameters for recycled PLA filaments are determined with Design of Experiment methods (DOE).
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM) is evolving on a daily basis, especially with the emphasis on low-budget market since most of the general patents related to AM technologies are expired, or are about to expire [1]
Most affordable AM machines are working on a principle of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) which works on a principle of material extrusion through numerically controlled nozzle [2]
During extrusion of the filaments from virgin Polylactic acid (PLA) pellets and from recycled PLA shredded particles, it was observed that the recycled filament has increased variation of diameter which comes from size and shape variation of shredded PLA particles in comparison with virgin PLA pellets
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM) is evolving on a daily basis, especially with the emphasis on low-budget market since most of the general patents related to AM technologies are expired, or are about to expire [1]. One of the drawbacks of the FFF process is that it needs support material for overhanging surfaces of the model during printing. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the most widely used 3D printing filament [5]. Lifecycle analysis procedures related with filament recycling have shown that distributed approaches in filament recycling can further decrease filament prices without sacrificing any material properties [7]. Recycling equipment such as shredders and extruders are expensive for personal use, but with establishment of distributed centres across the countries where standard users could bring their own waste and in return buy discounted recycled filament, initial investment in recycling equipment is feasible
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