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A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Processing and Engineering".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 May 2023) | Viewed by 12019

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Muammer Koç

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Guest Editor

Division of Sustainable Development, College of Science and Engineering, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha 34110, Qatar
Interests: sustainability; design innovation; energy; additive manufacturing; polymer composites; nano/micro-scale engineered surfaces; manufacturing/service/social system modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The recent progress in Additive Manufacturing (AM) (a.k.a. 3D printing, 3DP) methods has paved the way for an even broader range of flexibilities in design and materials in several industrial sectors, including aerospace, biomedicine, construction, electronics, telecommunication, mechanics, and defence. Polymers and their composites have also attracted increasing interest in research and development with several current and potential industrial applications due to their wide margin of superiority over conventional materials. Polymers and polymer composites provide a higher strength-to-weight ratio, easily customizable product properties, flexible manufacturing processes, high resistance to corrosion or erosion, and lower cost.

The current Special Issues focus on the recent developments in the AM/3DP of polymers and composites. We aim to receive a high-quality literature review and research contributions in the synthesis, characterization, and practical implementations of 3D-printed polymers and composites. The submissions may include mathematical, theoretical, analytical, numerical, or experimental approaches toward widespread AM/3DP polymer and polymer composite applications. Submissions focusing on the following are warmly welcome:

The latest trends in the area of AM/3DP products.
AM/3DP: technology, equipment, systems, materials, applications.
AM/3DP of polymers; polymer composites.
Material synthesis and characterization.
Biomedical, aerospace, automotive, consumer product applications.
Built-environment applications.
Mechanical, physical, thermal and electrical properties.
Theoretical modelling; analytical modelling; numerical modelling.
AM as a sustainable manufacturing processes and its revolutionary impact on current manufacturing processes.
Any other closely related discussion area.

Prof. Dr. Muammer Koç
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

additive manufacturing
3D printing
polymers
polymer composites
mechanical properties
physical properties
thermal properties
electrical properties
theoretical modeling
analytical modeling
numerical model

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

13 pages, 6167 KiB

Open AccessArticle

3D-Printable PLA/Mg Composite Filaments for Potential Bone Tissue Engineering Applications

by Sumama Nuthana Kalva, Fawad Ali, Carlos A. Velasquez and Muammer Koç

Polymers 2023, 15(11), 2572; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15112572 - 3 Jun 2023

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 2682

Abstract

Magnesium (Mg) is a promising material for bone tissue engineering applications due to it having similar mechanical properties to bones, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. The primary goal of this study is to investigate the potential of using solvent-casted polylactic acid (PLA) loaded Mg (WE43) composites as filament feedstock for fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D Printing. Four PLA/Magnesium (WE43) compositions (5, 10, 15, 20 wt%) are synthesized and produced into filaments, then used to print test samples on an FDM 3D printer. Assessments are made on how Mg incorporation affected PLA’s thermal, physicochemical, and printability characteristics. The SEM study of the films shows that the Mg particles are uniformly distributed in all the compositions. The FTIR results indicate that the Mg particles blend well with the polymer matrix and there is no chemical reaction between the PLA and the Mg particles during the blending process. The thermal studies show that the addition of Mg leads to a small increase in the melting peak reaching a maximum of 172.8 °C for 20% Mg samples. However, there are no dramatic variations in the degree of crystallinity among the Mg-loaded samples. The filament cross-section images show that the distribution of Mg particles is uniform up to a concentration of 15% Mg. Beyond that, non-uniform distribution and an increase in pores in the vicinity of the Mg particles is shown to affect their printability. Overall, 5% and 10% Mg composite filaments were printable and have the potential to be used as composite biomaterials for 3D-printed bone implants. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Development in Additive Manufacturing of Polymers)

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20 pages, 9335 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Effects of Self-Polymerized Polydopamine Coating on Mechanical Properties of Polylactic Acid (PLA)–Kenaf Fiber (KF) in Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM)

by Sanusi Hamat, Mohamad Ridzwan Ishak, Mohd Sapuan Salit, Noorfaizal Yidris, Syamir Alihan Showkat Ali, Mohd Sabri Hussin, Muhamad Saifuldin Abdul Manan, Muhamad Qauyum Zawawi Ahamad Suffin, Maliki Ibrahim and Ahmad Nabil Mohd Khalil

Polymers 2023, 15(11), 2525; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15112525 - 30 May 2023

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2504

Abstract

This research examines the impact of self-polymerized polydopamine (PDA) coating on the mechanical properties and microstructural behavior of polylactic acid (PLA)/kenaf fiber (KF) composites in fused deposition modeling (FDM). A biodegradable FDM model of natural fiber-reinforced composite (NFRC) filaments, coated with dopamine and reinforced with 5 to 20 wt.% bast kenaf fibers, was developed for 3D printing applications. Tensile, compression, and flexural test specimens were 3D printed, and the influence of kenaf fiber content on their mechanical properties was assessed. A comprehensive characterization of the blended pellets and printed composite materials was performed, encompassing chemical, physical, and microscopic analyses. The results demonstrate that the self-polymerized polydopamine coating acted as a coupling agent, enhancing the interfacial adhesion between kenaf fibers and the PLA matrix and leading to improved mechanical properties. An increase in density and porosity was observed in the FDM specimens of the PLA–PDA–KF composites, proportional to their kenaf fiber content. The enhanced bonding between kenaf fiber particles and the PLA matrix contributed to an increase of up to 13.4% for tensile and 15.3% for flexural in the Young’s modulus of PLA–PDA–KF composites and an increase of up to 30% in compressive stress. The incorporation of polydopamine as a coupling agent in the FDM filament composite led to an improvement in tensile, compressive, and flexural stresses and strain at break, surpassing that of pure PLA, while the reinforcement provided by kenaf fibers was enhanced more by delayed crack growth, resulting in a higher strain at break. The self-polymerized polydopamine coatings exhibit remarkable mechanical properties, suggesting their potential as a sustainable material for diverse applications in FDM. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Development in Additive Manufacturing of Polymers)

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12 pages, 3596 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling of Top-Down Digital Light Processing Additive Manufacturing

by Hesam Moghadasi, Md Tusher Mollah, Deepak Marla, Hamid Saffari and Jon Spangenberg

Polymers 2023, 15(11), 2459; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15112459 - 26 May 2023

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2052

Abstract

Digital light processing (DLP) as a vat photopolymerization technique is one of the most popular three-dimensional (3D) printing methods, where chains are formed between liquid photocurable resin molecules to crosslink them and solidify the liquid resin using ultraviolet light. The DLP technique is inherently complex and the part accuracy depends on the process parameters that have to be chosen based on the fluid (resin) properties. In the present work, computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations are presented for top-down DLP as photocuring 3D printing. The effects of fluid viscosity, travelling speed of build part, travelling speed ratio (ratio of the up-to-down traveling speeds of build part), printed layer thickness, and travel distance considering 13 various cases are scrutinized by the developed model to obtain a stability time of fluid interface. The stability time describes the time it takes for the fluid interface to show minimum fluctuations. According to the simulations, a higher viscosity leads to prints with higher stability time. However, lower stability times in the printed layers are caused by a higher traveling speed ratio (TSR). The variation in settling times with TSR is extremely small in comparison to that of viscosity and travelling speed variations. As a result, a declining trend can be detected for the stability time by increasing the printed layer thickness, while by enhancing the travel distance values, the stability time demonstrated a descending pattern. In total, it was revealed that it is essential to choose optimal process parameters for achieving practical results. Moreover, the numerical model can assist in the optimizing the process parameters. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Development in Additive Manufacturing of Polymers)

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23 pages, 4090 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Energy Recovery from Polymeric 3D Printing Waste and Olive Pomace Mixtures via Thermal Gasification—Effect of Temperature

by Daniel Díaz-Perete, Manuel Jesús Hermoso-Orzáez, Luís Carmo-Calado, Cristina Martín-Doñate and Julio Terrados-Cepeda

Polymers 2023, 15(3), 750; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym15030750 - 1 Feb 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1925

Abstract

One of the polymeric materials used in the most common 3D printers is poly(ethylene terephthalate) glycol (PETG). It represents, in world terms, around 2.3% of polymeric raw material used in additive manufacturing. However, after processing this material, its properties change irreversibly. A significant amount of waste is produced around the world, and its disposal is usually destined for landfill or incineration, which can generate an important issue due to the high environmental risks. Polymer waste from 3D printing, hereinafter 3DPPW, has a relatively high calorific value and adequate characteristics to be valued in thermochemical processes. Gasification emerges as an innovative and alternative solution for recovering energy from 3DPPW, mixed with residues of lignocellulosic origin, and presents some environmental advantages compared to other types of thermochemical treatments, since the gasification process releases smaller amounts of NOx into the atmosphere, SOx, and CO₂. In the case of the study, co-gasification of olive pomace (OLB) was carried out with small additions of 3DPPW (10% and 20%) at different temperatures. Comparing the different gasifications (100% OLB, 90% OLB + 10% 3DPPW, 80% OLB + 20% 3DPPW), the best results for the synthesis gas were obtained for the mixture of 10% 3DPPW and 90% olive pomace (OLB), having a lower calorific value of 6.16 MJ/m³, synthesis gas yield of 3.19%, and cold gas efficiency of 87.85% for a gasification temperature of 750 °C. In addition, the results demonstrate that the addition of 3DPPW improved the quality of syngas, especially between temperatures of 750 and 850 °C. Including polymeric 3D printing materials in the context of the circular economy and extending their life cycle helps to improve the efficiency of subsequent industrial processes, reducing process costs in general, thanks to the new industrial value acquired by the generated by-products. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Development in Additive Manufacturing of Polymers)

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9 pages, 2460 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Experimental Characterisation and Finite Element Modelling of Polyamide-12 Fabricated via Multi Jet Fusion

by Kok Peng Marcian Lee and Mladenko Kajtaz

Polymers 2022, 14(23), 5258; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym14235258 - 2 Dec 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2088

Abstract

The HP Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology is a relatively recent addition to powder bed fusion additive manufacturing (AM) techniques. It differentiates itself from selective laser sintering (SLS) technology through the use of fusing and detailing agents to control part geometry, and the use of a planar infrared radiation (IR) source that sweeps over the powder bed to initiate the sintering process. Depending on the printing methodology, AM processes can introduce mechanical property anisotropy that is dependent on print orientation. In the case of MJF-fabricated parts, there is a general disagreement over the influence of print orientation on tensile mechanical properties in the literature. In this work, MJF-fabricated PA12 (AM PA12) is printed at various orientations and characterised in terms of tensile and compressive mechanical properties. The orientations have been selected to take into account the alignment of the IR source sweep direction to the test load. We observe that orientating parts towards the vertical direction for printing tends to favour enhanced tensile mechanical properties. The anisotropy in mechanical properties is attributed to more complete polymer powder fusion as a result of the increased number of IR source sweeps when parts are orientated towards the vertical direction. Both tensile and compressive stress–strain data were used as experimental data input for calibrating the Elastic–Plastic with combined hardening (EPC) material model in the commercial finite element analysis (FEA) package—Abaqus. We demonstrate that the EPC material is a suitable material model for the FEA of AM PA12. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Development in Additive Manufacturing of Polymers)

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