Evaluation of the effects of controlled ultrasonic acetone vaporisation on Fused Deposition Modelling 3D Printed Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

Abstract

The application of vapour exposure systems upon 3D printed objects as a means for surface modification is a thoroughly established technique. This study investigated the utilization of a generated controlled vapour chamber device to further derive the relationship between surface modification exposure to that of part structural properties, namely interlayer bonding. This controlled utilization of vapour is intended to identify potential for future sequential 3D printing methodologies. The study mirrored previous work as such an UPBox Fused deposition modelling printer was required to produce thirty acrylonitrile butadiene styrene ASTM D638 Type IV dog-bone samples. Each of these was subjected to controlled vapour exposure relative to defined sample sets, namely groups of 5 representing exposure intervals at 0%, 20%, 25%, 50%, and 100% printing completion. Analysis for these was conducted via Instron 5967 tensile testing and a Hitachi TM3030Plus Scanning electron microscopy. These samples depicted a directly proportional increase in ultimate tensile strength and layer fusion with increased vapour exposure. These values contradicted the previous uncontrolled study.