Large-scale Additive Manufacturing of Highly Exothermic Reactive Polymer Systems

Additive manufacturing (AM) of reactive polymer systems involves the deposition of materials at room temperature that either cure during printing through a chemically initiated reaction or require thermal initiation after printing. This presentation focuses on large-scale AM of chemically initiated thermosetting resins to characterize the effects of heat generation, temperature-dependent viscoelasticity, and crosslinking on the printing process. Real-time tracking of both temperature and cure fronts during the build process were investigated using infrared (IR) and optical vision systems in combination with selected material dyes. Heat generation within the previouslydeposited layers was observed to cause significant reduction in the storage modulus (G’) and viscosity of newly-deposited layers, resulting in bead instabilities and failure of the print. Quantitative experimental observations on thin-wall structures suggest strategies for mitigating this failure mode through selection of print parameters and tailoring of viscoelastic properties of the feedstock resin.