Ecoprinting: Investigating the use of 100% recycled Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) for Additive Manufacturing

Mazher Iqbal Mohammed*, Anirudra Das, Eli Gomez-Kervin, Daniel Wilson, Ian Gibson

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to conferencePaperpeer-review

30 Citations (Scopus)
22 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Many commonly found polymers have the potential to be recycled, such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), a prevalent 3D printing material. In this study we examine the potential of using 100% recycled ABS to form filaments for use in Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printing. We then characterise the resulting changes in the printing quality and mechanical properties, over a single recycling cycle. We found that ABS can undergo recycling and reforming into consistent printer filaments without the addition of virgin material. However, notable changes in polymer characteristics were observed, reflected by degradation in mechanical properties during tensile tests and a decrease in the polymer melt flow, which required reduced raster speed to achieve repeatable prints. Despite these limitations, we demonstrate that recycling and reprinting is possible with acceptable loss of material integrity, and could provide unique opportunities for sustainable use of waste ABS using 3D printing technology.

Original languageEnglish
Pages532-542
Number of pages11
Publication statusPublished - 2020
Externally publishedYes
Event28th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference, SFF 2017 - Austin, United States
Duration: 7 Aug 20179 Aug 2017
Conference number: 28

Conference

Conference28th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium - An Additive Manufacturing Conference, SFF 2017
Abbreviated titleSFF 2017
Country/TerritoryUnited States
CityAustin
Period7/08/179/08/17

Keywords

  • 3D Printing
  • ABS
  • EcoPrinting
  • FDM
  • Recycling

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