A review on the potential of polylactic acid based thermoplastic elastomer as filament material for fused deposition modelling
Journal
Journal of Materials Research and Technology
ISSN
2238-7854
Date Issued
2022
Author(s)
Nitiyah Krishna Kumar
Allan Edward Watson Rennie
Lancaster University
Armin Yousefi Kanani
Lancaster University
DOI
10.1016/j.jmrt.2022.08.057
Handle (URI)
Abstract
Currently, a range of sectors are implementing three-dimensional (3D) printing, which is a part of additive manufacturing (AM) technology via the fused deposition modelling (FDM) approach. As of now, various filament materials are available in the market and have their limitations. Thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) blend as a filament material in 3D printing should be implemented to overcome the weakness of available filaments. TPE blend stands out due to its flexibility, thermoplastic-like processability, and renewability. Based on the findings, TPE blend filament can be made with polylactic acid (PLA) thermoplastic and elastomers such as natural rubber (NR) and epoxidized natural rubber (ENR). The TPE printed components will be flexible; tough with excellent thermal and mechanical properties. In this paper, the characteristics of TPE are being reviewed to show the potential of TPE material as filament.
Subjects
File(s)