3D printing of continuous metal fiber-reinforced recycled ABS with varying fiber loading

Abstract

Purpose

The current study aims to develop a 3D-printed continuous metal fiber-reinforced recycled thermoplastic composite using an in-nozzle impregnation technique.

Design/methodology/approach

Recycled acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (RABS) plastic was blended with virgin ABS (VABS) plastic in a ratio of 60:40 weight proportion to develop a 3D printing filament that was used as a matrix material, while post-used continuous brass wire (CBW) was used as a reinforcement. 3D printing was done by using a self-customized print head to fabricate the flexural, compression and interlaminar shear stress (ILSS) test samples to evaluate the bending, compressive and ILSS properties of the build samples and compared with VABS and RABS-B samples. Moreover, the physical properties of the samples were also analyzed.

Findings

Upon three-point bend, compression and ILSS testing, it was found that RABS-B/CBW composite 3D printed with 0.7 mm layer width exhibited a notable improvement in maximum flexural load (L_max), flexural stress at maximum load (sf_max), flex modulus (E_f) and work of fracture (WOF), compression modulus (E_c) and ILSS properties by 30.5%, 49.6%, 88.4% 13.8, 21.6% and 30.3% respectively.

Originality/value

Limited research has been conducted on the in-nozzle impregnation technique for 3D printing metal fiber-reinforced recycled thermoplastic composites. Adopting this method holds the potential to create durable and high-strength sustainable composites suitable for engineering applications, thereby diminishing dependence on virgin materials.

Citation

Mishra, V., Kumar, J., Negi, S. and Kar, S. (2024), "3D printing of continuous metal fiber-reinforced recycled ABS with varying fiber loading", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 30 No. 8, pp. 1610-1623. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-02-2024-0087