4.7 Article

Investigation of Low-Cost FDM-Printed Polymers for Elevated-Temperature Applications

Journal

POLYMERS
Volume 14, Issue 14, Pages -

Publisher

MDPI
DOI: 10.3390/polym14142826

Keywords

additive manufacturing; polymers; space; microsatellites; thermal stability; dimensions; mechanical properties

Funding

  1. German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action via the AiF [KK5129708TA1]
  2. Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) [490988677]
  3. Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences
  4. Climate Chamber by the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia via the Zukunftsfonds

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While FDM and other inexpensive 3D printing methods are widely used, their application is limited due to mechanical and thermal constraints. The study found that filled PLA filaments are the most suitable material for high-temperature conditions.
While fused deposition modeling (FDM) and other relatively inexpensive 3D printing methods are nowadays used in many applications, the possible areas of using FDM-printed objects are still limited due to mechanical and thermal constraints. Applications for space, e.g., for microsatellites, are restricted by the usually insufficient heat resistance of the typical FDM printing materials. Printing high-temperature polymers, on the other hand, necessitates special FDM printers, which are not always available. Here, we show investigations of common polymers, processible on low-cost FDM printers, under elevated temperatures of up to 160 degrees C for single treatments. The polymers with the highest dimensional stability and mechanical properties after different temperature treatments were periodically heat-treated between -40 degrees C and +80 degrees C in cycles of 90 min, similar to the temperature cycles a microsatellite in the low Earth orbit (LEO) experiences. While none of the materials under investigation fully maintains its dimensions and mechanical properties, filled poly(lactic acid) (PLA) filaments were found most suitable for applications under these thermal conditions.

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