Development of sustainable 3D printing filaments using recycled/virgin ABS blends: Processing and characterization

Abstract

AbstractWaste plastic exposed to the environment creates problems and is of significant concern for all life forms. To reuse the waste plastic in a well‐organized manner and make it more productive, extrusion‐based additive manufacturing, specially fused deposition modeling technique, can be an effective way. Hence, the primary objective of this work is to reuse ABS waste for developing sustainable three‐dimensional printing filaments. A mixed feedstock processing approach is used to develop filaments, in which recycled ABS is blended with virgin ABS in weight ratio of 10%–50%. The rheological and thermo‐mechanical properties of the extruded filaments were examined. Results indicated that increasing extrusion temperature from 190°C to 195°C produced significant physical changes in ABS blends. There is a breakdown of styrene acrylonitrile and butadiene component in ABS which causes strain hardening and material stiffening. The Young's modulus, yield strength and ultimate tensile strength of 80% RABS/20% VABS filament were found to be 2329, 34.814 and 40.82 MPa, respectively, which is close to VABS filament. The novel filament produced from recycled/virgin ABS blends has the capability to replace commercially available ABS filaments for fabricating high‐quality plastic parts through an additive manufacturing routine.