Effect of Thermal and Hydrothermal Accelerated Aging on 3D Printed Polylactic Acid
Bergaliyeva S. Sales D.L. Delgado F.J. Bolegenova S. Molina S.I.
December 2022MDPI
Polymers
2022#14Issue 23
In the new transformation of ‘Industry 4.0’, additive manufacturing technologies have become one of the fastest developed industries, with polylactic acid (PLA) playing a significant role. However, there is an increasing amount of garbage generated during the printing process and after prototypes or end-of-life parts. Re-3D printing is one way to recycle PLA waste from fused filament fabrication. To do this process successfully, the properties of the waste mixture should be known. Previous studies have found that PLA degrades hydrolytically, but the time at which this process occurs for 3D printed products is not specified. This work aims to establish the baseline of the degradation kinetics of 3D printed PLA products to predict the service time until which these properties are retained. To achieve this, 3D printed specimens were thermally and hydrothermally aged during several time intervals. Thermal and mechanical properties were also determined. This study reveals that tensile strength decreases after 1344 h of hydrothermal ageing, simulating 1.5–2.5 years of real service time. PLA therefore has the same thermo-mechanical properties before reaching 1.5-years of age, so it could be recycled.
3D printing , additive manufacturing , fused filament fabrication , hydrothermal aging , polylactic acid , recyclability , thermal aging
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Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry, Algeciras School of Engineering and Technology, Universidad de Cádiz, INNANOMAT, IMEYMAT, Ramón Puyol Ave, Algeciras, Cádiz, 11202, Spain
Physics and Technology Department, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University, 71, Al-Farabi Ave, Almaty, 050040, Kazakhstan
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry, Universidad de Cádiz, INNANOMAT, IMEYMAT, Campus Río S. Pedro, Puerto Real, Cádiz, 11510, Spain
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry
Physics and Technology Department
Department of Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering and Inorganic Chemistry
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