Effect of different filler content of ABS–zinc ferrite composites on mechanical, electrical and thermal conductivity by using 3D printing

In this paper, the composites were prepared to improve the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties because 3D printed objects tend to have low structural integrity. The printing process starts by laying down successive layers of molten ABS filament and the filler will disperse onto the layer until the whole specimen was completed. The aim of this study is to investigate the influence of fillers content on the mechanical, electrical and thermal properties of ABS–zinc ferrite composites. The mechanical strength of the 3D printed products is usually worse compared with injection molding due to their fragile structure and weakness points between the layers. The additions of filler content at 14 wt% was found to provide a significant improvement in density and tensile properties which gives the highest value of improvement up to 8% and 70% accordingly compared to the pure ABS. Hardness testing result also showed a 117% increase over the unreinforced ABS. The thermal and electrical conductivity increased by 22% and 186% respectively when 14 wt% filler was added to the samples. All the results showed an improvement in terms of mechanical, electrical and thermal properties compared with control ABS specimen due to the presence of zinc ferrite filler. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 24:E217–E229, 2018. © 2018 Society of Plastics Engineers.