Filament development in recycled ABS for 3D printing: color and performance

• Grant number: 17/15734-0
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: August 01, 2018
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Materials and Metallurgical Engineering - Nonmetallic Materials
• Principal Investigator: William Toledo Lima
• Grantee: William Toledo Lima
• Company: PRINTGREEN3D Comércio de Equipamentos Ltda. - ME
• CNAE: Fabricação de artefatos de material plástico não especificados anteriormente ; Comércio varejista de artigos de uso doméstico não especificados anteriormente
• City: São Paulo

Abstract

Not long ago, it was hard to believe that anyone could have in their own home a machine capable of producing different types and shapes of parts. However, the recent popularization of 3D printers - created by Chuck Hull in 1984- showed that this technology was no longer closed and expensive. RepRap was launched in 2004 in England with the aim of creating 3D printers capable of being used for rapid prototyping and manufacturing of its own plastic components. Because these printers are a type of rapid prototypator capable of printing the three-dimensional artifacts of their own structure, they are classified as a self-replicating machine, which disseminated the printer's idea as a replicable author, so that it alone could Manufacture parts and the user is free to modify and improve their printer. It is noticed that in the technology of additive manufacture there is a worldwide movement directed to researches of materials and processes in diverse fields, emphasizing applications in the area of health and production of functional industrial components. The use of recycled composites and raw materials has been investigated in relation to filaments in polymers, allowing advances in relation to obtaining functional parts with reduced costs. Thus, the concept of circular economy is met, keeping products, components and materials at the highest level of utility and value at any time in its life cycle. ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene Copolymer) is one of the raw materials most used in 3D printing because it has technical characteristics satisfactory to the technology. This thermoplastic polymer is widely used in the conventional manufacturing of technical parts mainly in the automotive and electronics segments. Therefore, it is worth mentioning their availability and permission of the recycling process. Considering this scenario, the objective of this project is to develop recycled ABS formulations for the production of filaments for 3D printing considering the color and performance aspects. The methodology consists of obtaining filaments for 3D printing using formulations of recycled ABS and color concentrates. The development of the formulations occurs through the process of extrusion and characterization of the materials with the 3D printing of test pieces, as well as by thermal, rheological and mechanical analysis. It is believed that from the development of this study, it is possible to obtain sustainable filaments of low cost, processability and performance to be used in the production by additive manufacture of technical components in various technological segments. Another expected result is the increase in the number of users who can benefit from the technology, including education, research and development institutions, as well as small businesses, which require more affordable technologies in terms of cost and quality. (AU)