Estudo comparativo das propriedades mecânicas de polímeros usados na manufatura aditiva e plásticos de engenharia comuns usados na indústria

Abstract

The application of 3D printing for rapid manufacturing has the proposal of producing complex geometry pieces in accordance with computational projects, besides having the benefit of avoiding material waste, since there is no need for machining operations on manufactured pieces. Thus, they offer many advantages in manufacturing with polymer composites, such as high dimensional accuracy, competitive effective cost and customized geometry. However, due to the relatively limited mechanical properties of polymeric materials applied as feedstock for these machines, it is necessary to carry out a comparative study in relation to mechanical properties of other materials more commonly applied in industry in order to evaluate if, in fact, printed materials can replace the more usual polymers. In this research, five samples of each material, printed by 3D prototyping, i.e. acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA), are conducted to mechanical tensile and flexural tests and their results are compared with mechanical properties of Nylon 6, submitted to the same tests. From the comparison of the mechanical properties analyzed, and the specific density of the tested materials, it is verified that the materials applied in additive manufacture, in certain situations, can replace commonly applied engineering plastics.