Investigation of bio-based and recycled printing materials for additive manufacturing

Abstract

Additive manufacturing (AM) processes are becoming increasingly important alongside conventional processes. As a result, the consumption of materials is also increasing. The most widespread process in polymer AM is Fused Layer Modelling (FLM). Today, the FDM process often uses synthetically produced materials based on petrochemical processes. However, there is little knowledge about which bio-based and recycled polymer materials are suitable for sustainable polymer AM. The aim of this paper is to carry out investigations of eight selected materials, which are already commercially available, to gain insights into their suitability as materials for polymer AM. These materials are divided into four categories: conventional, recycled, bio-based and fibre-reinforced thermoplastics. The evaluation model consists of a point system in which the materials are evaluated according to various weighted criteria. For technical, economic and ecological evaluation meaningful criterions were developed and applied. Based on the evaluations, three two-dimensional strength diagrams were developed, from which the results of the materials, on two of the evaluations in each case, can be read. These results are combined in a three-dimensional diagram. This representation provides the ability to make a precise selection of bio-based or recycled materials for polymer AM.