Strengthening 3D prints

[Les Hall]

Hi everyone,

Les here with an idea that I’d like to share with the community and see what you think. It’s probably been explored and found to be lacking in some way but here goes…

You take a porous 3D printed part such as PLA and soak it in a thin bonding agent such as a dilute solution of the appropriate type of glue thinned with water, alcohol, or acetone. Then you let it drain and dry. Once completed, the part might be stronger.

I spoke with Tom Headley briefly about this and his conclusion was that there’s probably an easier way to get more strength such as printing with a different material or process. Also Tom suggested the use of pressure such as a pressure cooker or vacuum to better infuse the parts. Tom also suggested using a translucent filament with UV cured epoxy. soak the part, shine UV light on it, then it’s really strong.

Well, like most of my ideas, it’s been done before so I thought I’d discuss it with the you all and see wha is tthe response. Your turn!

Les

p.s. could also infuse materials with different properties such as magnetic, dielectric, conductive, etc

[Craig]

There are quite a few ways to approach this.
Obviously, the first thing would be what type of 3d printer(s) one has accesses to ( plastic fdm, 5 degree of freedom robotic arm, laser sintering, the "vat" method, etc).
As such, trying to find discussions like this isn't a straight forward search.
On the object design side, I've seen tools (free and pay) will check the object for appropriate thickness relative to the intended material(s) used.
There are also ways to add support structures (temp and fixed) to the design (e.g. think printing out a skull -- doesn't need to be a completely solid skull!).
There are also programs that will allow for altering the thickness of the print layer at various points (limited to layer with vat & fdm where as robotic 3d printer
arm isn't restricted to current print layer).
Changing up the hardware to a robotic arm allows one to get away from the requirement of one continuous line print flow.  This in tern allows laying
down different materials of different densities/thicknesses/materials independent of layer. (vs. x-y coordinate fdm where one is restricted to current layer having
to be completed before adding additional layers)
I have run across some 3d printers that take advantage of multi-material extrusion to do what you've discussed.

If there's interest, I can dig up some example links.

Craig

[Les Hall]

hi Craig, 

Please pardon the late response!  The printing process that I am thinking of is an FFF (FDM) process.  This is the printer that most people have AFAIK.  The idea is to somehow cause the porous print to become saturated with the solvent or bonding agent, then dry / cure it to create added strength or material property enhancement.  

I'm not sure how all of your comments apply to this, please explain?

Les

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[Craig]

Les wrote:

> Please pardon the late response!  The printing process that I am thinking of is an FFF (FDM)

> process.  This is the printer that most people have AFAIK.  The idea is to somehow cause the

> porous print to become saturated with the solvent or bonding agent, then dry / cure it to create

> added strength or material property enhancement.  

> I'm not sure how all of your comments apply to this, please explain?

So, given a 3d printed ball design, you’d first transform it into a lattice like structure (vs. using a porous material) e.g.

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160924-maker-on-quest-to-create-ultimate-3d-printed-bouncy-ball.html (vs. infill changes such as http://www.3ders.org/articles/20170321-makerbots-new-minfill-3d-printing-mode-dynamically-adjusts-infill-makes-printing-30-faster.html

and

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20141209-expanded-all-in-one-simplify3d-includes-support-for-19-new-3d-printers.html )

Are you trying to just saturate the surface, get a uniform/variable saturation throughout the object?

For the ball example, are you just trying to “water proof” it, change the way the ball flexes or change the center density off the ball using a different "liquid" filler material added after printing?

vs.

Modifying the 3d printed surface to allow for surface adhesion, such as http://www.3ders.org/articles/20161107-optimize-3d-printed-layer-thicknesses-with-autodesks-free-varislice-open-workflow.html but intentionally creating surface defects the solvent/bonding agent can adhere to (akin to roughing up polished metal surface before applying paint to the surface)

or

Using a sealing coat post 3d print : http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150309-student-creates-handheld-3d-printer-using-lego-bricks-and-a-hot-glue-gun.html

Saturate the print as it’s being printed (software; http://www.3ders.org/articles/20150129-free-voxel-modelling-software-monolith-is-perfect-for-multi-material-3d-printing.html )

e.g. treat the solvent/bonding agent as something to be added to the extruded filament as filament is used/printed using additional hardware such as

viscus materials extruder : https://3dprint.com/92177/viscotec-fdd-starter-kit/

dual head : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2027755

or "marker method" : https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:42056 or https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5570

Better scaling & out of sequence placement control via robotic arms:

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20151116-arevo-labs-new-6-axis-robotic-additive-manufacturing-platform-enhances-3d-printing-of-complex-composite-parts.html

http://www.3ders.org/articles/20160408-3d-cocooner-spins-nature-inspired-fiberglass-stuctures-in-mid-air.html

Craig

On Tuesday, July 4, 2017 at 6:25:02 AM UTC-5, Les Hall wrote:

hi Craig, 

Please pardon the late response!  The printing process that I am thinking of is an FFF (FDM) process.  This is the printer that most people have AFAIK.  The idea is to somehow cause the porous print to become saturated with the solvent or bonding agent, then dry / cure it to create added strength or material property enhancement.  

I'm not sure how all of your comments apply to this, please explain?

Les

On Mon, Jul 3, 2017 at 4:02 PM, Craig via 10BitWorks <sa-hackerspace+APn2wQfVho8FuSVRTr9u6yVATUG9okQL0XgUAeNL6Cx3TPsBy@googlegroups.com> wrote:

There are quite a few ways to approach this.
Obviously, the first thing would be what type of 3d printer(s) one has accesses to ( plastic fdm, 5 degree of freedom robotic arm, laser sintering, the "vat" method, etc).
As such, trying to find discussions like this isn't a straight forward search.
On the object design side, I've seen tools (free and pay) will check the object for appropriate thickness relative to the intended material(s) used.
There are also ways to add support structures (temp and fixed) to the design (e.g. think printing out a skull -- doesn't need to be a completely solid skull!).
There are also programs that will allow for altering the thickness of the print layer at various points (limited to layer with vat & fdm where as robotic 3d printer
arm isn't restricted to current print layer).
Changing up the hardware to a robotic arm allows one to get away from the requirement of one continuous line print flow.  This in tern allows laying
down different materials of different densities/thicknesses/materials independent of layer. (vs. x-y coordinate fdm where one is restricted to current layer having
to be completed before adding additional layers)
I have run across some 3d printers that take advantage of multi-material extrusion to do what you've discussed.

If there's interest, I can dig up some example links.

Craig

On Monday, July 3, 2017 at 3:13:59 PM UTC-5, Les Hall wrote:

Hi everyone,

Les here with an idea that I’d like to share with the community and see what you think.  It’s probably been explored and found to be lacking in some way but here goes…

You take a porous 3D printed part such as PLA and soak it in a thin bonding agent such as a dilute solution of the appropriate type of glue thinned with water, alcohol, or acetone.  Then you let it drain and dry.  Once completed, the part might be stronger.  

I spoke with Tom Headley briefly about this and his conclusion was that there’s probably an easier way to get more strength such as printing with a different material or process.  Also Tom suggested the use of pressure such as a pressure cooker or vacuum to better infuse the parts.  Tom also suggested using a translucent filament with UV cured epoxy.  soak the part, shine UV light on it, then it’s really strong.  

Well, like most of my ideas, it’s been done before so I thought I’d discuss it with the you all and see wha is tthe response.  Your turn!  

Les

p.s. could also infuse materials with different properties such as magnetic, dielectric, conductive, etc  

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