Thermal Post-Processing of 3D Printed Polypropylene Parts for Vacuum Systems

Authors

Pierce Mayville, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow
Aliaksei L. Petsiuk, Western University
Joshua M. Pearce, Michigan Technological UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-8-2022

Department

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Abstract

Access to vacuum systems is limited because of economic costs. A rapidly growing approach to reduce the costs of scientific equipment is to combine open-source hardware methods with digital distributed manufacturing with 3D printers. Although high-end 3D printers can manufacture vacuum components, again, the cost of access to tooling is economically prohibitive. Low-cost material extrusion 3D printing with plastic overcomes the cost issue, but two problems arise when attempting to use plastic in or as part of vacuum systems: the outgassing of polymers and their sealing. To overcome these challenges, this study explores the potential of using post-processing heat treatments to seal 3D printed polypropylene for use in vacuum environments. The effect of infill overlap and heat treatment with a readily available heat gun on 3D printed PP parts was investigated in detail on ISO-standardized KF vacuum fitting parts and with the use of computer vision-based monitoring of vacuum pump down velocities. The results showed that infill overlap and heat treatment both had a large impact on the vacuum pressures obtainable with 3D printed parts. Heat treatment combined with 98% infill reliably sealed parts for use in vacuum systems, which makes the use of low-cost desktop 3D printers viable for manufacturing vacuum components for open scientific hardware.

Publisher's Statement

© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp6050098

Publication Title

Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing

Recommended Citation

Mayville, P., Petsiuk, A., & Pearce, J. (2022). Thermal Post-Processing of 3D Printed Polypropylene Parts for Vacuum Systems. Journal of Manufacturing and Materials Processing, 6(5). http://doi.org/10.3390/jmmp6050098
Retrieved from: https://digitalcommons.mtu.edu/michigantech-p/16508

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Version

Publisher's PDF