Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a widely used and cost-effective additive manufacturing process. However, most of the materials commonly used contribute to environmental waste. Additionally, agricultural waste like corn husks also contributes to environmental waste. Therefore, this research focu...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Lim, Kar Yap
Format: Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
Published: 2023
Subjects:
Online Access:http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5907/
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5907/1/ME_1901131__KAR_YAP_LIM.pdf
_version_ 1848886535538081792
author Lim, Kar Yap
author_facet Lim, Kar Yap
author_sort Lim, Kar Yap
building UTAR Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a widely used and cost-effective additive manufacturing process. However, most of the materials commonly used contribute to environmental waste. Additionally, agricultural waste like corn husks also contributes to environmental waste. Therefore, this research focused on developing a composite filament from recycled polypropylene and corn husk fiber. The corn husk fibers were extracted via the water retting method and further ground into a fine powder. The recycled polypropylene pellet was produced from post-used food containers. The composite filaments were prepared with various fiber content ranging from 0 to 7.5 wt% using a single screw extruder. The filaments with various fiber content were tested for their melt flow index values. Next, the filaments were printed into tensile specimens at different printing parameters and tested for their mechanical properties. The results showed that increasing fiber content reduced the melt flow index, tensile strength, and modulus. However, increasing the printing temperature significantly increased the tensile strength and modulus. It was also found that specimens printed with a filament containing 2.5 wt% fiber content had the highest tensile strength compared to others. Overall, the printed parts using this filament exhibited better mechanical properties compared to those printed with commercial wood filament. However, the inconsistency and incompatibility of the fiber caused some drawbacks in the performance of the composite filament. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of using recycled materials in FDM and provides insights for optimizing material properties for 3D printing applications.
first_indexed 2025-11-15T19:40:02Z
format Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis
id utar-5907
institution Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-15T19:40:02Z
publishDate 2023
recordtype eprints
repository_type Digital Repository
spelling utar-59072023-10-05T16:35:53Z Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling Lim, Kar Yap TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is a widely used and cost-effective additive manufacturing process. However, most of the materials commonly used contribute to environmental waste. Additionally, agricultural waste like corn husks also contributes to environmental waste. Therefore, this research focused on developing a composite filament from recycled polypropylene and corn husk fiber. The corn husk fibers were extracted via the water retting method and further ground into a fine powder. The recycled polypropylene pellet was produced from post-used food containers. The composite filaments were prepared with various fiber content ranging from 0 to 7.5 wt% using a single screw extruder. The filaments with various fiber content were tested for their melt flow index values. Next, the filaments were printed into tensile specimens at different printing parameters and tested for their mechanical properties. The results showed that increasing fiber content reduced the melt flow index, tensile strength, and modulus. However, increasing the printing temperature significantly increased the tensile strength and modulus. It was also found that specimens printed with a filament containing 2.5 wt% fiber content had the highest tensile strength compared to others. Overall, the printed parts using this filament exhibited better mechanical properties compared to those printed with commercial wood filament. However, the inconsistency and incompatibility of the fiber caused some drawbacks in the performance of the composite filament. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of using recycled materials in FDM and provides insights for optimizing material properties for 3D printing applications. 2023 Final Year Project / Dissertation / Thesis NonPeerReviewed application/pdf http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5907/1/ME_1901131__KAR_YAP_LIM.pdf Lim, Kar Yap (2023) Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling. Final Year Project, UTAR. http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5907/
spellingShingle TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
Lim, Kar Yap
Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
title Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
title_full Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
title_fullStr Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
title_full_unstemmed Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
title_short Developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
title_sort developing composite filament from recycled polypropylene and agriculture waste for fused deposition modeling
topic TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
url http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5907/
http://eprints.utar.edu.my/5907/1/ME_1901131__KAR_YAP_LIM.pdf