Pinho Ana C, Piedade Ana P
Centre for Mechanical Engineering, Materials and Processes (CEMMPRE), Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3030-788 Coimbra, Portugal.
Materials (Basel). 2021 Jun 16;14(12):3335. doi: 10.3390/ma14123335.
Additive manufacturing of polymers has evolved from rapid prototyping to the production of functional components/parts with applications in distinct areas, ranging from health to aeronautics. The possibility of producing complex customized geometries with less environmental impact is one of the critical factors that leveraged the exponential growth of this processing technology. Among the several processing parameters that influence the properties of the parts, the geometry (shape factor) is amid less reported. Considering the geometric complexity of the mouth, including the uniqueness of each teething, this study can contribute to a better understanding of the performance of polymeric devices used in the oral environment for preventive, restorative, and regenerative therapies. Thus, this work aims to evaluate 3D printed poly(ε-caprolactone) mechanical properties with different build orientations and geometries. Longitudinal and transversal toolpaths produced specimens with parallelepiped and tubular geometry. Moreover, as it is intended to develop devices for dentistry, the influence of artificial saliva on mechanical properties was determined. The research concluded that the best mechanical properties are obtained for parallelepiped geometry with a longitudinal impression and that aging in artificial saliva negatively influences all the mechanical properties evaluated in this study.
聚合物的增材制造已从快速原型制作发展到生产具有不同应用领域（从健康到航空）的功能部件。以较小的环境影响生产复杂定制几何形状的可能性是推动这种加工技术呈指数级增长的关键因素之一。在影响部件性能的几个加工参数中，几何形状（形状因子）的报道较少。考虑到口腔的几何复杂性，包括每个出牙阶段的独特性，本研究有助于更好地理解用于口腔环境中预防、修复和再生治疗的聚合物装置的性能。因此，这项工作旨在评估具有不同构建方向和几何形状的3D打印聚己内酯的机械性能。纵向和横向刀具路径制作出了具有平行六面体和管状几何形状的试样。此外，由于旨在开发牙科装置，还确定了人工唾液对机械性能的影响。研究得出结论，具有纵向印记的平行六面体几何形状可获得最佳机械性能，并且在人工唾液中老化会对本研究中评估的所有机械性能产生负面影响。
