Physical properties of wood-based materials for liquid deposition modeling
ISSN: 1355-2546
Article publication date: 9 December 2022
Issue publication date: 2 May 2023
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to quantify the vertical shrinkage rates and the mechanical strength of three-dimensional (3D) printed parts for a variety of wood-based materials for liquid deposition modeling.
Design/methodology/approach
The overall hypothesis was that a well-chosen combination of binders, fibers and fillers could reduce shrinkage in the Z dimension and increase compressive and flexural strength (DIN 52185, 52186). To test this assumption, eight sub-hypotheses were formulated. Mixtures of the ingredients were chosen in different ratios to measure the performance of prints. For time efficiency, an iterative heuristic approach was used – not testing all variations of all variables in even increments, but cutting off lines of testing when mixtures were clearly performing poorly.
Findings
The results showed that some mixtures had high dimensional accuracy and strength, while others had neither, and others had one but not the other. Shrinkage of 3D printed objects was mainly caused by water release during drying. An increase of the wood as well as the cement, sand, salt and gypsum content led to reduced vertical shrinkage, which varied between 0 and 23%. Compressive and flexural strength showed mixed trends. An increase in wood and salt content worsened both strength properties. The addition of fibers improved flexural, and the addition of cement improved compression strength. The highest strength values of 14 MPa for compressive and 8 MPa for flexural strength were obtained in the test series with gypsum.
Originality/value
This paper is an important milestone in the development of environmentally friendly materials for additive manufacturing. The potential of many ingredients to improve physical properties could be demonstrated.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research projects, on which this publication is based, were funded by the German Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (2220HV034A) and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (01DH20019). Holzmühle Westerkamp GmbH (Visbek, Germany) kindly provided the softwood flour.
Citation
Rosenthal, M., Rüggeberg, M., Gerber, C., Beyrich, L. and Faludi, J. (2023), "Physical properties of wood-based materials for liquid deposition modeling", Rapid Prototyping Journal, Vol. 29 No. 5, pp. 1004-1013. https://doi.org/10.1108/RPJ-09-2022-0322
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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