Analysis of Recycled HDPE Filament for Fused Filament Fabrication
Team Members Heading link
- Mikaela Brown
- Francisco Canas
- Justin Chambers
Advisors: Dr. Matthew Daly; Camden Treadway; Paige Kupfer, EI
Project Description Heading link
Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) has been gaining popularity as a versatile option for prototyping and manufacturing. The most common filament materials include Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) and Polylactic Acid (PLA), but there has been concern over the footprint and price from materials used during fabrication.
In this analysis, previous research on the use of recycled High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) as filament was explored to determine the suitability and sustainability of utilizing the material to design engineering-grade parts. HDPE is already used in a variety of applications including corrosive packaging, piping infrastructure, and consumer packaging, making it a suitable candidate for consideration. Three main factors used to determine the effectiveness of recycling HDPE into filament include mechanical properties, economics, and environmental implications. It was found that not only is HDPE a suitable engineering material for recycling into filament, but the energy and environmental impacts of using recycled materials proved quite substantial.