Publication: Mapping temperature distribution during 3d printing process of post consumer high density polyethylene
Loading...
Date
2025-08-11
Authors
Teoh, Wei En
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
This study explores the use of 100 % post-consumer HDPE (PC-HDPE) compounded with 30 phr kaolin clay as filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The aim of this project is to map real-time thermal distributions during FDM of PC-HDPE with 30 phr Kaolin filler (PC-HDPE/30) and identify nozzle size (0.4 and 0.6 mm), nozzle temperature (200, 220, 240, 260 °C) and bed temperature (60, 70, 80, 90 °C) that minimize shrinkage and warpage. Post-consumer HDPE flakes obtained from shredding of detergent bottles were cleaned, compounded with kaolin
clay via a heated two-roll mill, and extruded into 1.75 mm filament. A Creality Ender-3 printer was equipped with an InfiRay T2S Plus thermal camera to map temperatures at the nozzle exit, bead, and build plate. A 4×4×2 full factorial design with three replicates was used to vary nozzle temperature, bed temperature, and nozzle size, shrinkage was calculated from CAD-to-printed volume differences, warpage was measured from average corner heights and all data were analyzed by ANOVA (α = 0.05) in Minitab 18. Based on data obtained and ANOVA analysis, the deposited
temperature was highly sensitive to all main effects (P < 0.05). Shrinkage showed a significant interaction between nozzle and bed temperatures (P = 0.009), though neither factor alone was significant. Warpage was significantly influenced by nozzle temperature, bed temperature, and nozzle size (all P < 0.05), with a notable nozzle‑size × nozzle‑temperature interaction. A nozzle temperature of 220–240 °C, a bed temperature of 70–80 °C, and a 0.6 mm nozzle were recommended to minimize shrinkage and warpage.