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Four processing parameters, layer thickness, printing speed, raster angle, and building orientation were investigated in terms of their effects on mechanical properties, surface quality, and microstructure of acrylonitrilebutadiene-styrene (ABS) samples in fused deposition modeling (FDM) by orthogonal experiments. The results show that both the building orientation and the printing layer thickness have a great influence on the mechanical properties of ABS specimens. When the layer thickness is 0.1 mm, samples printed in horizontal direction have the best mechanical performance. The vertical-direction-built parts generally have the worst tensile strength and impact resistance. Moreover, the layer surface quality of the products becomes worse with the increasing of layer thickness and printing speed. The influence of layer thickness on the roughness of FDM samples is still very significant. These researches are of great significance to explore the FDM molding mechanism and optimize processing parameters to meet the performance demands. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 00:000-000, 2018. FIG. 7. SEM images of ABS tensile specimens fractured surfaces (The number indicates the group number in the orthogonal experiments.).

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Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is one of the trendiest three-dimensional printing (3DP) technologies. However, FDM products based on virgin polyamide-6 (PA6) are seriously warped due to the accumulation of shrinkage stress generated from the crystallization of PA6. To solve this problem, maleic anhydride grafted poly(ethylene 1-octene) (POE-g-MAH) is added into PA6 to disturb the crystallization and reduce the shrinkage stress. Besides, rigid polystyrene (PS) with good flowability is further introduced to PA6/POE-g-MAH blend because too much addition of POE-g-MAH will weaken the PA6/POE-g-MAH, which will interrupt the printing process. The POE-g-MAH and PS both act as amorphous phase in the blends, which will reduce the shrinkage stress and is helpful to the shape stability of the printed products. Finally, a new kind of PA6-based filament with good toughness for FDM is prepared via this facile method.

Acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) nanocomposite filaments with different inorganic nanofillers for fused deposition modeling (FDM) were prepared by melting extrusion and printed via a commercial FDM three-dimensional printer. The effects of the nanoparticles on the mechanical strength, anisotropy, and thermal properties of the ABS specimens were evaluated. The performances of the virgin ABS samples manufactured by FDM and injection molding were also studied. The results show that the tensile strength (TS) of the pure ABS made by FDM was just up to 70% of the value obtained from the injection-molded specimens. The mechanical anisotropy of the pure ABS samples was very evident when the building orientation was changed. However, we found that the addition of nanofillers significantly reduced the mechanical anisotropy and improved the mechanical strength and thermostability of the ABS samples fabricated by FDM technology. The TS and flexural strength of the ABS samples increased by 25.7 and 17.1%, respectively, with the introduction of nanomontmorillonite. The addition of nano calcium carbonate lowered the mechanical anisotropy of ABS from 42.1 to 23.9%.