3D Printing Could Double The Application Of Recycled Plastic

The discovery of a new component designed using addictive manufacturing process can lead to a polymer can absorb around 96% of shocks without fracturing. A team of researchers at Polytechnique Montreal recently came up with this finding of recycling plastics. This creation if approved and tested can pave the way for unbreakable plastic covering applications. The concept behind the creation of the material is rather crude. The researchers wanted to demonstrate the theory behind the creation – A plastic webbing can be integrated besides a glass pane in order to prevent it from casing any harm to itself. While the concept and the direction towards the reasoning was rather simple, there is no further discussion on the texture or type of the plastic web.

The design as reveled by the authors was inspired by the web of a spider and their inoculate properties. In order to get the desired properties into their component, the researchers used a polycarbonate bind. When it is introduced to heat , polycarbonate becomes extremely viscous. Using a 3D printer, the researchers took advantage of this property to necessarily “weave” their initial structure and repeated the procedure by printing a new series of fibers in a perpendicular manner moving rapidly before the entire structure had a chance to cool and solidify.

When being extruded from the mould, the melted plastic creates a form that ultimately is converted into a web of loops. Once hardened, these loops form a mechanical link which give the entire component a good degree of strength. When a force is exerted on the object, the mechanical link absorbs the initial blow and protects the material’s structure. Additionally, to achieve this feat the researchers embedded the web structure within transparent resin plates to conduct additional impact tests. In conclusion, the polymer could absorb 96% of the impacts without breaking. Instead of developing cracks, the material further developed deformities andthus, the study on 3D printed plastics is still on.