Development of material extrusion 3D printable ABS/PC polymer blends: influence of styrene-isoprene-styrene copolymer on printability and mechanical properties

In this work, a series of 3D printable ABS/PC blends were successfully prepared via filament extrusion and fused deposition fabrication. Influence of styrene-isoprene-styrene (SIS) copolymer on printability and mechanical properties were examined. It was revealed that SIS not only enhances the compatibility of the two blend phases, but also enhances the 3D printability of the resulting materials. The effect of print temperature, bed temperature, print speed, layer thickness, number of shell and infill density on mechanical properties of the printed parts were investigated using the Taguchi experimental design method, and the samples were printed using optimized process parameters according to the Taguchi method. It was revealed that the optimization of extrusion multiplier was an efficient method to overcome voids in the printed parts. Interestingly, incorporation of SIS considerably improved the adhesion and distribution of the blend phases. In addition, with an increase in SIS content, tensile strength, yield strength, elastic modulus, and hardness were found to decrease, whereas Izod impact strength and percentage elongation values of the 3D-printable blend increased. Finally, an efficient post-processing technique was successfully employed to improve the aesthetics of additive manufactured specimens. This work provides a facile strategy to prepare new 3D-printable polymer blends with improved adhesion between phases and minimized voids in the printed parts.