Sustainable Additive Manufacturing: Mechanical Response of Polypropylene over Multiple Recycling Processes

Nectarios Vidakis, Markos Petousis, Lazaros Tzounis, Athena Maniadi, Emmanouil Velidakis, Nicolaos Mountakis, Dimitrios Papageorgiou, Marco Liebscher and Viktor Mechtcherine
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Nectarios Vidakis: Mechanical Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion Crete, Greece
Markos Petousis: Mechanical Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion Crete, Greece
Lazaros Tzounis: Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Ioannina, 45110 Ioannina, Greece
Athena Maniadi: Department of Materials Science and Technology, University of Crete, 70013 Heraklion Crete, Greece
Emmanouil Velidakis: Mechanical Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion Crete, Greece
Nicolaos Mountakis: Mechanical Engineering Department, Hellenic Mediterranean University, 71410 Heraklion Crete, Greece
Dimitrios Papageorgiou: School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
Marco Liebscher: Institute of Construction Materials, Technische Universität Dresden, DE-01062 Dresden, Germany
Viktor Mechtcherine: Institute of Construction Materials, Technische Universität Dresden, DE-01062 Dresden, Germany

Sustainability, 2020, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-16

Abstract: The recycling of polymeric materials has received a steadily growing scientific and industrial interest due to the increase in demand and production of durable and lightweight plastic parts. Recycling of such materials is mostly based on thermomechanical processes that significantly affect the mechanical, as well as the overall physicochemical properties of polymers. The study at hand focuses on the recyclability of Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printed Polypropylene (PP) for a certain number of recycling courses (six in total), and its effect on the mechanical properties of 3D printed parts. Namely, 3D printed specimens were fabricated from non-recycled and recycled PP material, and further experimentally tested regarding their mechanical properties in tension, flexion, impact, and microhardness. Comprehensive dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Raman spectroscopy, and morphological investigations by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed for the different 3D printed PP samples. The overall results showed that there is an overall slight increase in the material’s mechanical properties, both in tension and in flexion mode, while the DSC characterization indicates an increase in the polymer crystallinity over the recycling course.

Keywords: additive manufacturing (AM); Three-Dimensional (3D) Printing; recycling; Polypropylene (PP); thermoplastic engineered polymers; material characterization (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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