Comparison of mechanical, physical and thermaproperties of conventional plastics fabricated using 3d printing and injection moulding
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Date
2018-06
Authors
Nuur Laila Najwa Thajudin
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Abstract
In this study mechanical, physical and thermal properties of products fabricated through
Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) 3D printing were compared with products manufactured
using conventional plastic processing equipment, injection moulding. In order to check the
efficiency and consistency of both fabrication methods, therefore different types of plastics was
investigated, namely, acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), polylactic acid (PLA) and nylon
6 (PA6). Tensile properties and impact strength was measured through Universal Testing
Machine and Impact Tester Machine respectively. The thermal properties were determined by
Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) which measure the thermal stability for each type of
plastic fabricated with FDM 3D printing and injection moulding. SEM analysis was carried out
using Hitachi TM3000 Scanning Electron Microscopy to observe the presence of voids and
pores in the samples for different fabrication method. Water absorption for printed and injected
samples was carried out according to ASTM D570 at room temperature for 24 hours using
distilled water. The density of each fabricated plastics were determined using density balance
at room temperature. Viscosity test was carried out for each different fabricated samples in
measuring the viscosity using Cannon Ubberlohde Viscometer no.1. Tensile strength,
elongation at break, Young’s modulus and impact strength was found to be higher for samples
fabricated using injection moulding compared FDM 3D printed sample with percentage
difference of 39.7%, 41.8%, 26.9% and 60.9%, respectively. Density and water absorbed by
injected samples were found higher compared FDM 3D printed samples by 8.4% and 51.6%.
Crystallinity, thermal stability and viscosity related to molecular distribution between injected
and FDM printed samples were found comparable.