Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an emerging technology that can be used to build a complex 3D object with low cost for prototyping, modeling or production via solidification or deposition. Waxes are usually used in the manufacturing of 3D objects specifically involving molding and casting. The lo...

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Main Author: Mohammad Rahmat, Bin Derise
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2020
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Online Access:http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/29941/2/Fabrication%20of%20Polylactic%20Acid%20Wax%20Polyethylene%20Glycol%20Composite.pdf
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spelling my-unimas-ir.299412023-03-20T08:13:55Z Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 2020-06-12 Mohammad Rahmat, Bin Derise Q Science (General) TA Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General) TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an emerging technology that can be used to build a complex 3D object with low cost for prototyping, modeling or production via solidification or deposition. Waxes are usually used in the manufacturing of 3D objects specifically involving molding and casting. The lost-wax casting process is extensively utilized for manufacturing metal alloy objects from automotive parts to fine jewellery. However, waxes are only useful for the manufacturing of molds and not the end products. Therefore, the aims of this study to develop a new build material for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer by utilizing polylactic acid (PLA) as the matrix, wax as filler material and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the plasticizer. The effects of wax and polyethylene glycol loading on tensile properties and characteristics of PLA/wax composites were investigated. Tensile properties of PLA/wax composites were determined according to ASTM D638 and for characterization, the morphology of the composites was analyzed via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), water absorption (ASTM D570), melting point determination (MS-ISO 3146:2004) and melt flow index (MFI) (ASTM D1238). The tensile properties of PLA/wax composites decreased with the increase of the wax loading. Results showed significant improvement in elongation at break while tensile strength and elastic moduli decreased with increasing PEG content. The SEM micrographs show the PLA phase becoming discontinuous as the wax loading increases. The addition of PEG improves the compatibility between PLA and wax and the composites become more homogenous. PLA/wax with addition 5 wt.% and 8 wt.% PEG was selected since it showed good tensile properties and characteristics. Both composites were successfully extruded at 230°C in filament production with filament diameter 1.73 mm (PLA/wax/5 wt.% PEG) and 1.71 mm (PLA/wax/8 wt.% PEG). A cube was successfully printed with printing and platform temperature 180°C and 50°C respectively via FDM by using these two composites. The quality of 3D cube printed using the selected composites was comparable with the control (commercial PLA filament and neat PLA filament). However, some layers show poor bonding between adjacent layer and layer thickness variation defects that cause by inconsistent filament diameter. Therefore, it is important to further the study on optimization of extrusion parameters during filament production to produce consistent filament diameter since inconsistent diameter will affect the printing quality. Universiti Malaysia Sarawak, (UNIMAS) 2020-06 Thesis http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/29941/ http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/29941/2/Fabrication%20of%20Polylactic%20Acid%20Wax%20Polyethylene%20Glycol%20Composite.pdf text en validuser masters Faculty of Resource Science & Technology Faculty of Resource Science and Technology Shell MDS (M) Sdn. Bhd.
institution Universiti Malaysia Sarawak
collection UNIMAS Institutional Repository
language English
topic Q Science (General)
Q Science (General)
TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
spellingShingle Q Science (General)
Q Science (General)
TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Mohammad Rahmat, Bin Derise
Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
description Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an emerging technology that can be used to build a complex 3D object with low cost for prototyping, modeling or production via solidification or deposition. Waxes are usually used in the manufacturing of 3D objects specifically involving molding and casting. The lost-wax casting process is extensively utilized for manufacturing metal alloy objects from automotive parts to fine jewellery. However, waxes are only useful for the manufacturing of molds and not the end products. Therefore, the aims of this study to develop a new build material for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printer by utilizing polylactic acid (PLA) as the matrix, wax as filler material and polyethylene glycol (PEG) as the plasticizer. The effects of wax and polyethylene glycol loading on tensile properties and characteristics of PLA/wax composites were investigated. Tensile properties of PLA/wax composites were determined according to ASTM D638 and for characterization, the morphology of the composites was analyzed via Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), water absorption (ASTM D570), melting point determination (MS-ISO 3146:2004) and melt flow index (MFI) (ASTM D1238). The tensile properties of PLA/wax composites decreased with the increase of the wax loading. Results showed significant improvement in elongation at break while tensile strength and elastic moduli decreased with increasing PEG content. The SEM micrographs show the PLA phase becoming discontinuous as the wax loading increases. The addition of PEG improves the compatibility between PLA and wax and the composites become more homogenous. PLA/wax with addition 5 wt.% and 8 wt.% PEG was selected since it showed good tensile properties and characteristics. Both composites were successfully extruded at 230°C in filament production with filament diameter 1.73 mm (PLA/wax/5 wt.% PEG) and 1.71 mm (PLA/wax/8 wt.% PEG). A cube was successfully printed with printing and platform temperature 180°C and 50°C respectively via FDM by using these two composites. The quality of 3D cube printed using the selected composites was comparable with the control (commercial PLA filament and neat PLA filament). However, some layers show poor bonding between adjacent layer and layer thickness variation defects that cause by inconsistent filament diameter. Therefore, it is important to further the study on optimization of extrusion parameters during filament production to produce consistent filament diameter since inconsistent diameter will affect the printing quality.
format Thesis
qualification_level Master's degree
author Mohammad Rahmat, Bin Derise
author_facet Mohammad Rahmat, Bin Derise
author_sort Mohammad Rahmat, Bin Derise
title Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
title_short Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
title_full Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
title_fullStr Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
title_full_unstemmed Fabrication of Polylactic Acid/Wax/Polyethylene Glycol Composite Filament for Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)
title_sort fabrication of polylactic acid/wax/polyethylene glycol composite filament for fused deposition modeling (fdm)
granting_institution Faculty of Resource Science & Technology
granting_department Faculty of Resource Science and Technology
publishDate 2020
url http://ir.unimas.my/id/eprint/29941/2/Fabrication%20of%20Polylactic%20Acid%20Wax%20Polyethylene%20Glycol%20Composite.pdf
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