By Megan Hollander and Andrew Chalifoux PROPERTIES OF PLASTICS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS TO RAPID PROTOTYPING.

By Megan Hollander and Andrew Chalifoux

PROPERTIES OF PLASTICS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS TO

RAPID PROTOTYPING

To investigate the properties of plastics within prototyping

By generating information about the properties of ABSplus plastic and VeroBlue plastic both before and after annealing and comparing these properties to other non-3D printed plastics will help evaluate practical and useful applications of 3D printing

By providing this information, companies and individuals who work with plastics could be informed to make more effi cient products

PURPOSE

Created two dog bones made of ABSplus plastic from the Dimension 1200 ES 3D printers and two dog bone made of VeroBlue plastic from the Object 30 Scholar printer

Anneal one dog bone of ABS Plastic and one dog bone of VeroBlue plastic

Test the four dog bones in the Instron 8801 Create Stress-Strain Diagrams and analyze the

physical properties of the four dog bones to see how annealing aff ected them

PROCEDURE

ABS PLASTIC RESULTS

VEROBLUE RESULTS

STRESS-STRAIN CURVE

Material Elastic Modulus

Yield Strength Ultimate Tensile

Strength

Cost (per kilogram)

ABSplus Plastic

1.0066 GPa 25 MPa 28.44352 MPa $260

Annealed ABSplus Plastc

2.1193 GPa 37.5 MPa 42.1535 MPa To anneal: $4.99/kg

Total= $265

ABS Plastic (unprinted)

2.3 GPa 40 MPa N/A $1.5-$2.5

VeroBlue Plastic

2.2945 GPa 50 MPa 63.15623 MPa $500

Annealed VeroBlue Plastic

2.4272 GPa 60 MPa 70.34834 MPa To anneal: $4.38/kg

Total = $504.38

Polycarbonate 2.3 GPa 68 MPa 72.4 MPa $3.04-$4.00

Kydex 2.45 GPa 45 MPa N/A $10-$20

Acrylic 3.2 70 MPa N/A $2-4

RESULTS

VeroBlue RGD480 shows notable characteristics for yield strength before and after it is pre-heated; however, due to thie high costs of VeroBlue plastic, it is impractical to use VeroBlue for 3D printing applications, as compared to Kydex, acrylic, and polycarbonate

Unlike VeroBlue, ABSplus is not aff ected by annealing. ABSplus represents very similar properties as ABS plastic when it is not 3D printed.

There is an opportunity for the quality 3D printed prototypes to improve; however, the relationship between cost, strength, and material needs to be thoroughly considered.

CONCLUSION