Recycling of polymer waste with SiC/Al2O3 reinforcement for rapid tooling applications

In this research work an effort has been made to develop in house feed stock filament wire made up of recycled polymer waste as base matrix with SiC/Al2O3 reinforcement for sustainable development. The process starts with collection of waste polymer (high density polyethylene (HDPE) as a case study) from local industry. After manual segregation of contamination from waste polymer, initially rheological and thermal properties like: melt flow index (MFI), melting temperature, decomposition and enthalpy of the base polymer as well as reinforced with ceramic particle in different proportions, were tested. Further based upon thermal properties different proportions of HDPE, SiC and Al2O3 were prepared by using mini compounder (twin screw extruder) to ensure uniform dispersion. After this single screw extruder was used to prepare filament wire of uniform diameter for fused deposition modelling (FDM) setup. The filament wire so prepared was tested for its tensile properties by using universal testing machine (UTM) and various mechanical properties like: peak strength, break strength, percentage elongation and peak load etc. were established. Finally scanning electron micrographs (SEM) were obtained to understand the distribution of ceramic particles in filament wire. This study highlights the detailed procedure for managing the polymer waste with novel method by using recycled polymer as rapid tooling. This will enhance the sustainability and also helps to develop low cost, in-house open source FDM setup, rapid tooling (as ceramic particles in filament wire will enhance surface properties).