EFFECT OF HBN FILLERS ON RHEOLOGY PROPERTY AND SURFACE MICROSTRUCTURE OF ABS EXTRUDATE

Abstract

ABS filament remains an important feeding material for fused deposition manufacturing (FDM). However, ABS tends to experience warping after printing. The current paper investigates the effect of hBN fill on rheology property and diameter of ABS extrudate. ABS filled hBN composite was prepared by a facile solution mixing method. Rheological characterisation by capillary rheometer shows that ABS filled 5 wt% hBN composite exhibited a higher shear viscosity than the pure ABS. hBN addition appears to increase the shear viscosity of ABS by 62% at the shear rate of 200 s-1, but the increase was reduced to 20% at 1000 s-1. ABS-hBN extrudate surface microstructure deteriorated lesser than ABS extrudate when the shear rate increased up to 1000s-1. SEM micrograph of ABS-hBN extrudate’s surface exhibited less sharkskin feature but its swell percentage is 5.4% higher than the ABS extrudate. The addition of hBN fillers resulted in higher shear viscosity and percentage of ABS die swell but exhibited less sharkfin feature (smoother surface) on extrudate surface than the pure ABS.