File pdf 413KB

3D Recycling: Printed Part to Usable Filament

One drawback of the increased use of 3D printers is waste of expensive material. In many cases 3D-printed parts are only used for visualization or verification of a design, which means these parts have no long-term usefulness. This is especially true in an educational setting where students are often tasked to make parts primarily as a learning experience. The cost of stocking 3D printer filament is higher than necessary due to the large amount of waste involved. The 3D Recycling team has addressed this issue by creating a device that recycles printed parts back into usable filament.

Our team has developed and tested a prototype to recycle a specific filament material called polylactic acid (PLA), which is the most commonly used material for current educational 3D printers. The prototype reduces the recycling process to a three-step sequence of reduction, extrusion, and spooling. The reduction phase uses a mechanical shredder that breaks the printed parts into a size that can be fed into the extruder. The material from the shredder is then extruded into a filament of the required diameter for Makerbot® Replicators. Once extruded, the filament is wrapped onto a spool that is compatible for use in the 3D printer. This report will discuss the design process that led to the creation of the 3D Recycling prototype, and the performance evaluation observed during product testing.