Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts

The exploitation of mechanical properties and customization possibilities of 3D printed metal parts usually come at the cost of complex and expensive equipment. To address this issue, hybrid metal/polymer composite filaments have been studied allowing the printing of metal parts by using the standar...

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Main Authors: Claudio Tosto, Jacopo Tirillò, Fabrizio Sarasini, Gianluca Cicala
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-02-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/4/1444
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author Claudio Tosto
Jacopo Tirillò
Fabrizio Sarasini
Gianluca Cicala
author_facet Claudio Tosto
Jacopo Tirillò
Fabrizio Sarasini
Gianluca Cicala
author_sort Claudio Tosto
collection DOAJ
description The exploitation of mechanical properties and customization possibilities of 3D printed metal parts usually come at the cost of complex and expensive equipment. To address this issue, hybrid metal/polymer composite filaments have been studied allowing the printing of metal parts by using the standard Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) approach. The resulting hybrid metal/polymer part, the so called “green”, can then be transformed into a dense metal part using debinding and sintering cycles. In this work, we investigated the manufacturing and characterization of green and sintered parts obtained by FFF of two commercial hybrid metal/polymer filaments, i.e., the Ultrafuse 316L by BASF and the 17-4 PH by Markforged. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) analyses of the mesostructure highlighted incomplete raster bonding and voids like those observed in conventional FFF-printed polymeric structures despite the sintering cycle. A significant role in the tensile properties was played by the building orientation, with samples printed flatwise featuring the highest mechanical properties, though lower than those achievable with standard metal additive manufacturing techniques.
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spelling doaj.art-a4d33c6b237b4fd7aae611cdf272bb6f2023-12-03T12:31:07ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172021-02-01114144410.3390/app11041444Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal PartsClaudio Tosto0Jacopo Tirillò1Fabrizio Sarasini2Gianluca Cicala3Department of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, ItalyDepartment of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza—Università di Roma and UdR INSTM, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, ItalyDepartment of Chemical Engineering Materials Environment, Sapienza—Università di Roma and UdR INSTM, Via Eudossiana 18, 00184 Roma, ItalyDepartment of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Catania, Viale Andrea Doria 6, 95125 Catania, ItalyThe exploitation of mechanical properties and customization possibilities of 3D printed metal parts usually come at the cost of complex and expensive equipment. To address this issue, hybrid metal/polymer composite filaments have been studied allowing the printing of metal parts by using the standard Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) approach. The resulting hybrid metal/polymer part, the so called “green”, can then be transformed into a dense metal part using debinding and sintering cycles. In this work, we investigated the manufacturing and characterization of green and sintered parts obtained by FFF of two commercial hybrid metal/polymer filaments, i.e., the Ultrafuse 316L by BASF and the 17-4 PH by Markforged. The Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS) analyses of the mesostructure highlighted incomplete raster bonding and voids like those observed in conventional FFF-printed polymeric structures despite the sintering cycle. A significant role in the tensile properties was played by the building orientation, with samples printed flatwise featuring the highest mechanical properties, though lower than those achievable with standard metal additive manufacturing techniques.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/4/1444additive manufacturingfused filament fabricationstainless steel3D printing
spellingShingle Claudio Tosto
Jacopo Tirillò
Fabrizio Sarasini
Gianluca Cicala
Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts
Applied Sciences
additive manufacturing
fused filament fabrication
stainless steel
3D printing
title Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts
title_full Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts
title_fullStr Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts
title_full_unstemmed Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts
title_short Hybrid Metal/Polymer Filaments for Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) to Print Metal Parts
title_sort hybrid metal polymer filaments for fused filament fabrication fff to print metal parts
topic additive manufacturing
fused filament fabrication
stainless steel
3D printing
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/11/4/1444
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AT jacopotirillo hybridmetalpolymerfilamentsforfusedfilamentfabricationffftoprintmetalparts
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AT gianlucacicala hybridmetalpolymerfilamentsforfusedfilamentfabricationffftoprintmetalparts