Cicala Gianluca, Latteri Alberta, Del Curto Barbara, Lo Russo Alessio, Recca Giuseppe, Farè Silvia
Department for Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Catania - Italy.
UdR National Interuniversity Consortium of Materials Science and Technology, Florence - Italy.
J Appl Biomater Funct Mater. 2017 Jan-Mar;15(1):10-18. doi: 10.5301/jabfm.5000343.
Among additive manufacturing techniques, the filament-based technique involves what is referred to as fused deposition modeling (FDM). FDM materials are currently limited to a selected number of polymers. The present study focused on investigating the potential of using high-end engineering polymers in FDM. In addition, a critical review of the materials available on the market compared with those studied here was completed.
Different engineering thermoplastics, ranging from industrial grade polycarbonates to novel polyetheretherketones (PEEKs), were processed by FDM. Prior to this, for innovative filaments based on PEEK, extrusion processing was carried out. Mechanical properties (i.e., tensile and flexural) were investigated for each extruded material. An industrial-type FDM machine (Stratasys Fortus® 400 mc) was used to fully characterize the effect of printing parameters on the mechanical properties of polycarbonate. The obtained properties were compared with samples obtained by injection molding. Finally, FDM samples made of PEEK were also characterized and compared with those obtained by injection molding.
The effect of raster to raster air gap and raster angle on tensile and flexural properties of printed PC was evidenced; the potential of PEEK filaments, as novel FDM material, was highlighted in comparison to state of the art materials.
Comparison with injection molded parts allowed to better understand FDM potential for functional applications. The study discussed pros and cons of the different materials. Finally, the development of novel PEEK filaments achieved important results offering a novel solution to the market when high mechanical and thermal properties are required.
在增材制造技术中，基于长丝的技术涉及所谓的熔融沉积建模（FDM）。FDM材料目前仅限于选定的几种聚合物。本研究重点调查了在FDM中使用高端工程聚合物的潜力。此外，还完成了对市场上现有材料与本文所研究材料的批判性综述。
通过FDM加工不同的工程热塑性塑料，从工业级聚碳酸酯到新型聚醚醚酮（PEEK）。在此之前，对基于PEEK的创新长丝进行了挤出加工。研究了每种挤出材料的机械性能（即拉伸和弯曲性能）。使用工业型FDM机器（Stratasys Fortus® 400 mc）全面表征了打印参数对聚碳酸酯机械性能的影响。将获得的性能与通过注塑成型获得的样品进行比较。最后，还对由PEEK制成的FDM样品进行了表征，并与通过注塑成型获得的样品进行比较。
证明了光栅与光栅之间的气隙和光栅角度对打印PC拉伸和弯曲性能的影响；与现有材料相比，突出了PEEK长丝作为新型FDM材料的潜力。
与注塑成型零件的比较有助于更好地理解FDM在功能应用方面的潜力。该研究讨论了不同材料的优缺点。最后，新型PEEK长丝的开发取得了重要成果，在需要高机械和热性能时为市场提供了一种新的解决方案。
