Effect of single particle size, double particle size and triple particle size Al2O3 in Nylon-6 matrix on mechanical properties of feed stock filament for FDM

Fused Deposition modelling (FDM) is one of the additive manufacturing (AM) technologies used extensively for modelling and prototyping applications. In commercial FDM setup, filament wire is un-coiled from wire spools and plastic based material is supplied to produce the part. The application area of FDM is limited presently due to selective material availability in market. Some researchers have highlighted the use of reinforced composite wires as FDM filament. But hitherto no work has been reported on the effect of Single particle size (SPS), Dual particle size (DPS), Triple particle size (TPS) of Al2O3 (as reinforcement) in Nylon-6 matrix to be used as feed stock filament for FDM. In this paper, effect of SPS, DPS, and TPS of Al2O3 (as reinforcement) in Nylon-6 matrix on mechanical properties (like: percent age elongation, tensile strength, yield strength, Young's modulus) has been studied. Further, empirical relations have been developed for above mentioned properties and a surface characteristic of developed wires has been observed with SEM image. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.