Three-dimensional (3D) printing is an attractive rapid prototyping technology for the fabrication of 3D structures by the localized deposition of a reactive binder liquid onto thin powder layers in predominantly technical applications. A practical limitation is often the low green strength of printed samples, which can lead to a collapse of large and fragile structures during removal from the powder bed and the following depowdering procedure. Fibre reinforcement may improve green mechanical properties of printed samples, which was investigated in this study using a range of different short fibres added to a matrix of cellulose-modified gypsum powder. Mechanical testing of printed samples revealed a bending strength increase of 180% and up to 10 times higher work of fracture values compared to non-reinforced printed samples.
This paper was originally published in Materials Letters 139 (2014) 165–168.
To read more about this article, click here.
3D personalized polymer scaffolds with precise texture, shape, and size encourage aligned growth of neurons for neural tissue engineering and repair
gold nanoparticles combined with a fluorescence dye improve the in vivo detection of Aβ aggregates for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease
Biomimicry of polar bear hairs offers synthetic heat insulating material