Development and characterisation of 3D printing finishing process applying recycled plastic waste

ABSTRACT

In recent years, additive manufacturing technologies have been playing an important role in the global economy. Consequently, low-cost 3D printers rose in the domestic environment, accelerating the development of startup companies and new market segments. Nevertheless, with regard to 3D printing based on fused filament fabrication, several challenges still need to be overcome, such as those related to surface finishing and mechanical strength. Moreover, 3D printing in the domestic environment also generates untreated plastic waste, which can cause environmental problems. For these reasons, the main goal of this work is to introduce and characterise 3D printing surface finishing post-processing using recycled plastic waste. As the main results of this work, the proposed recycling process was confirmed to improve object properties. Whereas surface roughness was reduced from 27 to 3 µm, while mechanical strength was increased in 20 times. The application of recycled material for chemical welding was also seen to be feasible.

KEYWORDS:

• Additive manufacturing
• recycled material
• process improvement
• sustainability

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank the CNPQ for the financial support, as well as the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of São Paulo (campus São Carlos), Concep3D Scientifics Researches, and the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana for providing access to their infrastructure and laboratories.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes on contributors

Marlon Wesley Machado Cunico is professor, researcher and entrepreneur in areas of additive manufacturing, technology and innovation. He has been working in additive manufacturing, process, material and equipment development for 15 years, in addition to being the author of a book in this area, supervisor of several undergraduation dissertations and a dozen published papers. His work is focused on research, development and application of advanced manufacturing technologies, such as 3D technologies, additive technologies, with emphasis on industrial and medical application.

Dalton Alexandre Kai is a PhD candidate in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR), received his Master’s in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR), Specialist in Product Engineering and Design from the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana (PUCPR) and Bachelor’s in Industrial Design from the University Tuiuti of Parana (UTP). He is currently an Assistant Professor of the Polytechnic School of the Pontifical Catholic University of Parana. Associated with PMI – Project Management Institute and his current research interests include product engineering, sustainability manufacturing and sustainable operations management.

Patrick Medeiros Cavalheiro is an entrepreneur in 3D printing technologies, he is engineering undergraduation student and has been working in additive manufacturing area for 5 years. He has been involved in researches in 3D technologies and has published a couple of papers in the field.

Jonas de Carvalho, full professor at the University of S. Paulo, Engineering School of S. Carlos, has been working in additive manufacturing over the past 20 years. He is a co-author of two books in this area, supervisor of several Masters and PhDs thesis, as well a dozen published papers. His work focuses on the research, development and applications of 3D technologies, with emphasis on medical applications.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico [grant number 154835/2016-1].