20 July 2021

During these last months of the project ITAINNOVA has been working in several tasks:

  • Manufacturing of filaments of PLA modified with magnetic nano-particles (MNPs) in order to introduce induction heating capabilities in 3D printing parts. The work done by ITAINNOVA in the project allowed to determine the proper concentrations to achieve adequate heating capacity and printability.
  • Study of recycling of nano-modified PLA for 3D printing filaments. Analysis of properties variation considering various recycling steps.
  • Prediction of properties of 3D printed nano-enhanced polymers based on modelling. The work done has allowed determining how the internal structure produced by the 3D printing process produces non-isotropic mechanical and thermal properties affected by the printing path. The simulations have been fed with information obtained from the models at lower scales (multi-scale approach considered in SmartFan) and experimental characterizations carried out within the project. This last study will be extended in the next period covering different defects patterns typically obtained in this type of processes.
Figure 6: Induction heating trials using thermography
Figure 7: Work-flow followed – example of prediction of thermal conductivities.