Investigations for tool life of 3D printed HDPE and LDPE composite based rapid tooling for thermoplastics machining applications

Abstract

Abstract This paper highlights the tool life of Al 2 O 3 reinforced thermoplastic composites for rapid tooling (RT) applications. The RT have been 3D printed with fused deposition modelling (FDM) by using recycled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) reinforced with double particle size (DPS) Al 2 O 3 and high-density polyethylene (HDPE) reinforced with triple particle size (TPS) Al 2 O 3 . The tool life has been calculated in terms of weight loss of RT while milling operation. The study also reports effect of machining conditions on surface hardness, porosity, thermal stability and microstructure of RT as a case study. The results of study suggest that the machined zones prepared with RT are more thermally stable.