Influence of thermal treatment on surface roughness, microstructural, and mechanical properties of 3D printed ABS

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) has been widely used for rapid prototyping (RP) techniques due to its low cost and customizability. This technique allows for rapid and competitive price production compared to conventional manufacturing. However, pieces fabricated with the AM technique usually possess poor mechanical and surface properties compared to the injection molding technique. Based on COALIA’s recent patent, a thermal treatment approach was used to improve the performance of printed parts. In this study, acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) was printed using fused deposition modeling (FDM) with and without heat treatment at 35 mm/s of printing speed. The physical and mechanical properties of printed ABS parts were then investigated. Tensile tests were performed to investigate the tensile strength, elastic modulus, and elongation at break. After tensile tests, X-ray microtomography was conducted to evaluate the surface morphologies. An optical profilometer analysis was also used to measure the surface roughness.