Deposition-induced effects of isotactic polypropylene and polycarbonate composites during fused deposition modeling
Abstract
Purpose
Although the feasibility and effectiveness of the fused deposition modeling (FDM) method have been proposed and developed, studies of applying this technology to various materials are still needed for researching its applicability, especially with regard to polymer blends and composites. The purpose of this paper is to study the deposition-induced effect and the effect of compatibilizers on the mechanical properties of polypropylene and polycarbonate (PP/PC) composites.
Design/methodology/approach
For this purpose, three different deposition modes for PP/PC composites with or without compatibilizers were used for the FDM method and tested for tensile properties. Also, parts with the same materials were made by injection molding and used for comparison. In addition, different deposition speeds were used to investigate the different deposition-induced effects. Furthermore, the behavior of the mechanical properties was clarified with scanning electron microscope images of the fracture surfaces.
Findings
The research results suggest that the deposition orientation has a significant influence on the mechanical behavior of PP/PC composite FDM parts. The results also indicate that there is a close relationship between the mechanical properties and morphological structures which are deeply influenced by compatibilization. Compared with injection molded parts, the ductility of the FDM parts can be dramatically improved due to the formation of fibrils and micro-fibrils by the deposition induced during processing.
Originality/value
This is the first paper to investigate a PP/PC composite FDM process. The results of this paper verified the applicability of PP/PC composites to FDM technology. It is also the first time that the deposition-induced effect during FDM has been investigated and studied.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51373048), the Priority Academic Program Development of Jiangsu Higher Education Institutions, and the Postgraduate Research & Practice Innovation Program of Jiangsu Province (No. KYCX17_1833) for their financial support. The authors would also like to thank Professor Chang-Yu Shen at the State Intellectual Property Office and Professor Jing-Bo Chen at Zhengzhou University for their helpful suggestions.
Citation
Zhou, Y.-G., Su, B. and Turng, L.-s. (2017), "Deposition-induced effects of isotactic polypropylene and polycarbonate composites during fused deposition modeling", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 23 No. 5, pp. 869-880. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-12-2015-0189
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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