Effect of in situ thermal treatment on ABS parts produced by fused deposition modeling (FDM)

Fused deposition modeling (FDM), an economical additive manufacturing (AM) technique, is widely used for extruding thermoplastic filaments. Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) is a widely used polymer for FDM technique due to its inexpensive cost, strong impact strength, great durability, and intriguing uses. ABS materials are used for interior parts of automotive applications, drug-delivery systems, tracheal tubes, valves for ventilators, and medical masks. Nonetheless, shrinkage and warping are the primary weaknesses of ABS during the FDM process, affecting the dimensional stability of printed parts. In this context, a patent-pending radiant heating system has been developed to improve the overall performance of printed parts. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of in situ thermal treatment on the interlayer adhesion and mechanical properties of printed ABS parts. The thermal treatment was carried out on a radiant heating system at 240 °C and a printing speed of 35 mm·s −1 . The physical and mechanical properties of ABS parts printed with and without radiant heating were then characterized. Various techniques, including tensile tests, X-ray microtomography (µ-CT), optical profilometry (OP), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), were conducted to investigate mechanical, microstructural, and topological properties of printed ABS parts. The results show that treated samples exhibit better interlayer adhesion than untreated ones. In addition, the treated samples had a lower porosity (1.6%) than the untreated samples (3%). Furthermore, the tensile strength, elastic modulus, and elongation at break of treated samples increased by 62%, 6%, and 110%, respectively, compared to untreated ones.