Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Material Research Articles

3D printing in neurosurgery: a specific model for patients with craniosynostosis

Craniosynostosis is a rare condition and requires a personalised surgical approach, which is why we consider the use of 3D printed models beneficial in the surgical planning of this procedure. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic skull models were designed and printed from CT images of patients between 3 and 6 months of age with craniosynostosis of different sutures. The models were used to simulate surgical procedures. Four models of four patients with craniosynostosis were produced: two with closure of the metopic suture and two with sagittal suture closure. The mean age of the patients was 5 months (3-6m) and the mean duration of the surgery was 286min (127-380min). The acrylonitrile butadiene styrene plastic models printed for the project proved to be optimal for the simulation of craniosynostosis surgeries, both anatomically and in terms of mechanical properties and reaction to surgical instruments. 3D printers have a wide range of medical applications and they offer an easy and affordable way to produce skull models. The acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material is suitable for the production of operable bone models as it faithfully reproduces the mechanical characteristics of bone tissue.

Characterization of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene for 3D Printed Patch Antenna

<p>3D printing is one of the additive manufacturing technology that has gain popularity for time saving and complex design. This technology increases a degree of flexibility for potential 3D RF applications such as wearable and conformal antennas. This paper demonstrates a circular patch antenna fabricated on 3D printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) filament. The main reason of using a 3D printer is that it is accurate, easy to fabricate of a complex geometry and the ability to create new antennas that cannot be made using conventional fabrication techniques. The ABS material has a tangent loss of 0.0051 and the relative permittivity is 2.74. The thickness of the substrate is 1.25 mm. The simulation has been performed using Computer Simulation Technology (CST). The return loss from simulation software is in good match with measurement which is 12.5dB at 2.44GHz. Hence, from the results obtained, the ABS could be used as a substrate for an antenna.</p>

Investigations for modelling hardness of biomedical implant during replication of FDM-based patterns by vacuum moulding

In the present work, effort has been made for modelling the microhardness of biomedical implant prepared by combining fused deposition modelling, vacuum moulding and stir casting (SC) process. A dynamic condylar screw (DCS) plate was selected as a real ‘3D’ biomedical implant for this case study. The DCS plate, made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material, was fabricated as a master pattern by fused deposition modelling. After preparation of the master pattern, the mould cavity was fabricated by the vacuum moulding process. Finally a metal–matrix composite of Al and Al2O3 prepared by SC process has been poured in the vacuum mould for fabrication of DCS plate. This study outlines the replication procedure of DCS plate in detail from the master pattern to final product. The contribution of the paper is towards finding out the effect and optimum values of three different process parameters (namely: percentage composition of Al and Al2O3, vacuum pressure and grain size of silica) towards microhardness of the DCS plate manufactured by the combined process.

Retrofitment, open-sourcing, and characterisation of a legacy fused deposition modelling system

Rapid prototyping is currently one of the most promising manufacturing techniques in industry, allowing for shorter design cycle times and improved design quality. Traditionally, commercially manufactured machines are locked to use proprietary materials specified by the manufacturer. Should a user require more freedom in material choice and other print-process parametres, open-source printers present a desirable alternative. However, these printers tend to suffer from reduced accuracy and part strength when compared to commercially manufactured machines. Thus, an opportunity exists whereby commercially manufactured print hardware can be retrofitted with open-source software to explore avenues of research that would otherwise be closed. In this paper, a large-format fused deposition modelling printer is used as the base hardware, which is supported by custom circuit boards and software to make the system open source and capable of printing a large variety of materials (for future research purposes). A customised feed system is implemented with dedicated control systems, firmware, and software. These combine to realise a completely open-source 3D printing system. The retrofitted machine is characterised by printing standardised samples, which are printed with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material, and standard print settings. Tensile tests are performed to evaluate the quality of part lamination. It is found that similar results are attainable for comparable materials on commercial machines, suggesting a successful retrofitment.

Geometrical Shapes Impact on the Performance of ABS-Based Coreless Inductive Sensors for PD Measurement in HV Power Cables

In this paper, a series of investigations on sensitivity and bandwidth for four types of Rogowski coil (RC) sensors was demonstrated. The proposed RC sensor design using acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material carries the advantages, such as lighter weight, robust, and higher temperature resistance. The prototype development first was carried out with the assistance of Solidwork 3D computer aided design software and MakerBot 2X 3D printer. Subsequently, the sensors were modeled and simulated using electromagnetic transient program-alternative transient program software environment based on the lumped parameter identification. A single-end measuring technique was used to locate the PD signal on the three-phase medium voltage underground cross-link polyethylene insulated power cable with a 240-mm2 nominal area copper conductor. In order to verify the results achieved from the simulation, an experiment was carried out. This experiment was repeated concurrently for each design of the RC sensors. In order to achieve the best PD detection, the precise selection for the best sensor is paramount. In this case, the results indicated that certain geometrical shape performed better with regard to the detection of the PD signal.

Surface roughness improvement of cast components in vacuum moulding by intermediate barrel finishing of fused deposition modelling patterns

In this work, investigations have been made for surface roughness (Ra) improvement of vacuum moulding (VM) components by introducing barrel finishing (BF) on fused deposition modelling patterns at preliminary stage (i.e. before being used as master patterns). The Ra improvement will help to avoid/reduce post machining/finishing operations for green manufacturing. The VM master patterns were prepared using P-430 grade acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material on commercial fused deposition modelling setup. Further, Ra of VM master pattern prepared was improved by using BF process (as intermediate process). The controllable parameters of BF and VM process (namely, media weight, cycle time, vacuum pressure and grain size of refractory sand) were studied at three levels by using Taguchi L9 orthogonal array to explore their affects on Ra of the final cast components. The results of study suggest that media weight of BF and sand grain size of VM process contribute significantly for improving Ra.

3D Printed Cryogenic High Voltage Devices

Progress in three-dimensional (3D) printing opens new ways to produce complex structures, and therefore, 3D printing may be an appropriate fabrication method for novel cryogenic high voltage devices with special geometrical requirements. A simple 3D printer “Ultimaker Original” with heated printbed is used for printing test samples. First, some tests were performed with one sample geometry type using the materials polyamide, polystyrene, polylactic acid, and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS). The results with the ABS material concerning mechanical, cryogenic, and leak tightness properties were considered as most promising. High voltage breakdown strength of ABS disk samples was examined based on standard IEC 60243 for alternating, direct, and standard lightning impulse voltage with liquid nitrogen as surrounding medium. In addition, flashover voltage tests were performed. Finally, the following prototype high voltage devices were printed and partly tested: high voltage insulator, minicryostat equipped with a standard 10 kV bushing, cryogenic axial insulation break, room temperature insulation break, and feedthrough. Some of the first results are promising, but further development is necessary. In particular, leak tightness needs improvement, and shock cooldown to liquid nitrogen temperature must be avoided because it causes ABS material destruction.

Plating on acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) plastic: a review

ABS is an engineering plastic that has butadiene part uniformly distributed over the acrylonitrile-styrene matrix. It possesses excellent toughness, good dimensional stability, easy processing ability, chemical resistance, and cheapness. However, it suffers from inherent shortcomings in terms of mechanical strength and vulnerability to environmental conditions. Furthermore, it is non-conducting and easily fretted. Plating on ABS can serve to enhance the strength and structural integrity as well as to improve durability and thermal resistance resulting in metallic properties on the ABS material. ABS is described as the most suitable candidate for plating because it is possible to deposit an adherent metal coating on it by only the use of chemical pretreatment process and without the use of any mechanical abrasion. This article aims to review the history of ABS plastics, properties of ABS, processes and mechanisms of plating, and studies of plating on ABS involving mainly eco-friendly methods of plating by discussing the literature published in recent years. The details of electroplating of ABS carried out in the authors’ laboratory are also presented.

Behaviour of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) during Dewaxing Process for Investment Casting of Proximal Humerus Implant

Investment casting has emerged as the foremost casting process for manufacturing of complex parts where better dimensional accuracy is required. Rapid Prototyping (RP) technologies is able to manufacture prototypes from various modelling materials. Stratasys Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a typical RP process that can fabricate prototypes from acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) used in investment casting process. Elimination of steps in mould making required in the traditional pattern wax preparation makes it quicker and a cost effective process. This paper characterises the behaviour of two proximal humerus ABS pattern constructions, namely solid and hollow fabricated by the FDM 2000 during flash dewaxing process. The dewaxing process parameters such as, temperature and time were regulated and the remaining weight of ABS material in the ceramic mould was examined.

Some Investigations on Hardness of Investment Casting Process After Advancements in Shell Moulding for Reduction in Cycle Time

In the present work surface hardness investigations have been made on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) pattern based investment castings after advancements in shell moulding for replication of biomedical implants. For the present study, a hip joint, made of ABS material, was fabricated as a master pattern by fused deposition modelling (FDM). After preparation of master pattern, mold was prepared by deposition of primary (1°), secondary (2°) and tertiary (3°) coatings with the addition of nylon fibre (1–2 cm in length of 1.5D). This study outlines the surface hardness mechanism for cast component prepared from ABS master pattern after advancement in shell moulding. The results of study highlight that during shell production, fibre modified shells have a much reduced drain time. Further the results are supported by cooling rate and micro structure analysis of casting.

Testing of ABS Material Tensile Strength for Fused Deposition Modeling Rapid Prototyping Method

In paper are presented information about materials used for production of models by Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) rapid prototyping technology. In today's rapid prototyping technologies the initial state of building material can be in solid, liquid or powder state. The current range materials include plastic, nylon, wax, resins, metals and ceramics. In FDM are mainly used as basic materials ABS - Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, polyamide, polycarbonate, polyethylene and polypropylene. Main part of the paper is focused on experimental testing of Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene materials realized by different research teams and presents outputs of testing of ABS material in FDM technology realized by authors.

Evaluation of FDM Pattern with ABS and PLA Material

Selection of the most suitable Rapid Prototyping (RP) and manufacturing process for a specific part creation is a difficult task due to the development of RP processes and materials. Most current RP processes can build with more than one type of material. The paper presents the evaluation on Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Polylactic acid (PLA) part produced from Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) as a master pattern for Investment Casting (IC) process. The main purpose of this research is to evaluate the dimensional accuracy and surface roughness for hollow and solid part of FDM pattern for IC process with different layer thickness. The value were taken for both before and after the casting process. Results show that model fabricated with hollow internal pattern structure (ABS material) that produced by low layer thickness is better than other models in terms of its dimensional accuracy (-0.19666mm) and surface roughness (1.41μm). Even though the ABS built part performed better as the model, the PLA build part produces better overall casting result. Final part fabricated with solid pattern (PLA material) that produced by high layer thickness is better than other final parts which its dimensional accuracy (-0.12777mm) and surface roughness (3.07μm).

Electroless copper plating on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material surfaces without chromic acid etching and a palladium catalyst

AbstractHydrolysis modification of nitrile groups on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plate surfaces into carboxylic acid groups was investigated to find a new recipe for electroless copper plating of ABS plate surfaces without etching reactions using chromic acid and also without a palladium catalyst. Hydrolysis modification of nitrile groups was successfully conducted in an aqueous sodium hydroxide (NaOH) solution (70 wt %) at 80°C for more than 72 h, and nitrile groups were modified into carboxylic acid groups. The hydrolysis modification was accelerated by the addition of dioxane as a supplement to the aqueous NaOH solution. The modification, when an aqueous mixture solution of NaOH (35 wt %) and dioxane (10 wt %) was used as a reagent, was accomplished at 65°C in 30 min. The hydrolyzed ABS plate surfaces were successfully metalized by electroless copper plating. A silver catalyst, instead of a palladium catalyst, was usable in the electroless copper‐plating process. Adhesion between the deposited copper metal and ABS plate surface was perfect for the Scotch tape test. Consequently, we propose a new recipe for an electroless copper‐plating process without an etching process using chromic acid and without a palladium catalyst. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2009

Mechanical, thermal and morphological properties of environmentally degradable ABS and poly(vinyl alcohol) blends

AbstractBlends of acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) with 5, 10, 15, and 20 wt % of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PV) were prepared by extruding in a corotating twin screw extruder. The ABS material was blended with PVA with the objective to enhance the degradability of ABS. The extrudate strands were cut into pellets and injection molded to make test specimens. These ABS/PVA blend specimens were tested for physicomechanical properties like tensile strength, elongation, modulus of elasticity, abrasion resistance, density, and water absorption, These blends were further characterized by melt flow Index, differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetry analysis, and scanning electron microscopy. The morphological analysis reveals the existence of PVA domains in the ABS matrix. Differential scanning calorimetry thermograms indicates the chemical interaction between ABS and PVA domains. The prepared blends show enhanced environmental and thermal degradation. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2007

Laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–dynamic reaction cell–mass spectrometry for the multi-element analysis of polymers

In this work, the potential of laser ablation–inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry for the fast analysis of polymers has been explored. Different real-life samples (polyethylene shopping bags, an acrylonitrile butadiene styrene material and various plastic bricks) as well as several reference materials (VDA 001 to 004, Cd in polyethylene) have been selected for the study. Two polyethylene reference materials (ERM-EC 680 and 681), for which a reference or indicative value for the most relevant metals is available, have proved their suitability as standards for calibration. Special attention has been paid to the difficulties expected for the determination of Cr at the μg g − 1 level in this kind of materials, due to the interference of ArC + ions on the most abundant isotopes of Cr. The use of ammonia as a reaction gas in a dynamic reaction cell is shown to alleviate this problem, resulting in a limit of detection of 0.15 μg g − 1 for this element, while limiting only modestly the possibilities of the technique for simultaneous multi-element analysis. In this regard, As is the analyte most seriously affected by the use of ammonia, and its determination has to be carried out in vented mode, at the expense of measuring time. In all cases studied, accurate results could be obtained for elements ranging in content from the sub-μg g − 1 level to tens of thousands of μg g − 1 . However, the use of an element of known concentration as internal standard may be needed for materials with a matrix significantly different from that of the standard (polyethylene in this work). Precision ranged between 5% and 10% RSD for elements found at the 10 μg g − 1 level or higher, while this value could deteriorate to 20% for analytes found at the sub-μg g − 1 level. Overall, the technique evaluated presents many advantages for the fast and accurate multi-element analysis of these materials, avoiding laborious digestion procedures and minimizing the risk of analyte losses due to the formation of volatile compounds.

Comparison of the failure conditions for creep, stress relaxation, and constant strain rate measurements to predict pipe burst for two ABS materials using the universal viscoelastic model

AbstractThe universal viscoelastic model was further validated in this study using two acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) viscoelastic materials to better elucidate the direct relationship between the failure criterion characteristics involving creep, constant strain rate, stress relaxation, and pipe burst. Using the yield strain as the failure criterion for constant strain rate and stress relaxation measurements and the strain at critical creep, the failure condition for creep, it was found that the universal viscoelastic model allowed these failure criteria to yield remarkably good agreement on a projected time scale. The relationship of the failure criteria between these three different techniques for characterizing a viscoelastic material was successfully used to identify several complementary approaches to predict long‐term pipe burst for two different ABS materials. The pipe burst data for ABS‐A appeared to fit the Tresca failure criterion better than the von Mises failure criterion, as predicted from failure criteria using constant strain rate, creep, and stress relaxation measurements. For ABS‐A the extrapolated creep and the constant strain rate failure criterion appeared to best predict the Tresca failure criterion pipe burst data. However, the hoop burst stress for ABS‐N, adjusted with the von Mises failure criterion modification, was found to give the best agreement with the yield stress equivalent failure criterion for constant strain rate, creep, and stress relaxation. For ABS‐N, the extrapolated creep failure criteria appeared to best predict the von Mises pipe burst failure criterion. In this study, the relationships between the failure criteria for the three different experimental techniques of constant strain rate, creep, and stress relaxation were shown to be reasonably interchangeable relative to a three‐dimensional failure configuration such as pipe burst. Because this interchangeability approach was found to work so well in the laboratory, there is no reason to believe that this same technique, using the universal viscoelastic model, would not also work as well to predict failure criteria for design applications using finite‐element analysis. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 247–260, 2004

Comparison of the viscous and elastic components of two ABS materials with creep, stress relaxation and constant strain rate measurements using the universal viscoelastic model

AbstractIn general, the universal viscoelastic model evaluated in this study was found to adequately predict constant strain rate, creep, and/or stress relaxation measurements from the constants determined from constant strain rate measurements. The elastic and viscous components for two acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene (ABS) viscoelastic materials were also easily isolated using this new universal viscoelastic model. The creep measurements for ABS‐A (25383‐A) and ABS‐N (LL‐4102‐N) at three different stresses allowed elucidation of the common creep intercept strain of the calculated creep slopes that was designated as the “projected elastic limit.” Once the values for n and β were evaluated from creep measurements, then the creep variation of the universal viscoelastic model yielded a reasonably good fit of the measured creep data for both ABS‐A and ABS‐N. The extensional viscosity constant λE was found to be 7.2% greater for ABS‐A than for ABS‐N. Consequently, ABS‐N was found to have a lower extensional viscosity in secondary creep than that of ABS‐A at any specific strain rate. The value of the efficiency of yield energy dissipation n for ABS‐N as determined from creep measurements was also 37.6% larger than the value of n for ABS‐A. In addition, the projected elastic limit ϵI for ABS‐A was 2% greater than the projected elastic limit for ABS‐N. These observations indicated that ABS‐A should be slightly more solidlike than ABS‐N. However, both ABS‐A and ABS‐N were significantly more solidlike than liquidlike because both of their values for the efficiency of yield energy dissipation n were very close to zero. In general, values of n range from 0 < n < 1 with a material characterized as being essentially pure elastic having a value of n = 0. Using the yield strain as the failure condition for constant strain rate and stress relaxation measurements and the strain at critical creep, the failure condition for creep, it was found that the universal viscoelastic model allowed these failure criteria to yield remarkably good agreement on a projected time scale. This agreement resulted even though separate and independent data were used to evaluate these three different techniques for both ABS‐A and ABS‐N. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 90: 1298–1318, 2003

Viscoplastic modeling of ABS material under high-strain-rate uniaxial elongational deformation

Uniaxial tensile tests were performed on the newest type of Meissner rheometer with an ABS (acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene) material. Tests were conducted for constant strain rates varying from 0.01 to 1 (1/s), at the temperatures ranging from 150 to 200 °C. Based on the experimental data, a new model was proposed, in which, strain hardening, strain rate sensitivity, temperature changes and the variation in the hardening index could be taken into consideration. In this new model, a new parameter, w, was introduced, which represents the variation in the hardening index. The proposed model can approximate the experimental data of the uniaxial tensile test quite well. Two existing models were also employed to approximate the material behavior, however, both of them exhibited the poor accuracy. Finally, a simple stretch deformation was simulated employing the three different models, and the differences in the final thickness and shape were confirmed.