Design Life-Cycle

assess.design.(don't)consume

LapKan Ip

914381873

Des40A Section 04

11/29/2016

Polycarbonate Filament

Few years ago, if you tell me you do not know what is 3D printing, I will not be surprise. Nowadays, 3d printing is the new trend that almost anything can be print within a 3D printer. As 3D printers have become more capable and able to work with a broader range of materials, including production-grade plastics and metals, the machines are increasingly being used to make final products. Increasingly, output of 3D printers is now final products rather than prototypes. 3D Printing has the capabilities of revolutionizing the technological with its ability to create human necessities at a significantly lower price. Therefore, create your own design at your home is no longer a dream. In this research paper, I am going to fully analysis the life cycle of one of the material that being broadly used as the raw material in 3D printer which is polycarbonate filament, also known as PC. Based on the life cycle of PC filament, it has advantages and disadvantages while using it as the printing materials and it depends largely on what and where you were planning on printing.

History:

Alfred Einhorn, a German scientist working at the University of Munich, first discovered polycarbonate in 1898. Then, PC was developed initially in 1953 by Hermann Schnell at Bayer and Daniel Fox at General Electric in the Germany and US respectively. Makrolon and Lexan has become two of the most popular trade names until today. PC is a heterochain polymer featuring high performance and it is an excellent material choice as it is not just high-performing but also can be recycled and produced in an eco-friendly manner.

Raw Materials Acquisition:

Basically, most of the plastic uses crude oil as the raw material. Crude oil, also known as fossil fuel, was formed when the animals and plants from millions of years ago, were covered by layers of sand. Heat and pressure from these layers turned the remains into crude oil. Start with the distillation of hydrocarbon fuels into lighter groups, polycarbonate is combined with other catalysts to produce plastics. A PC molecule includes a bisphenol A part and a carbonate group. Bisphenol A, also called BPA, is a chemical that has been used since the 1960s to make lightweight, hard plastics and epoxy resins. Bisphenol A has two aromatic rings rendering PC high strength. It does not crystallize easily due to the Bisphenol group. The polymer attains its transparency due to this amorphous structure.

Manufacturing, Processing and Formulation:

Polycarbonate, like other plastics, starts with the distillation of hydrocarbon fuels into lighter groups which are combined with other catalysts to produce plastics through the process of polymerization or polycondensation - sometimes known as chain growth and step growth polymerization respectively. In the case of polycarbonate, a step growth polymerization is used to synthesize it from phosgene and bisphenol A in which elimination of Cl ions are done every time the monomers react.

After the first reaction, there are three more steps to manufacture the polycarbonate. First, proton acceptors like NaOH are used to react with bisphenol A groups to result in polymerization functional groups. Phosgene and a catalyst react with the deprotonated bisphenol A at a temperature range between 25 and 35°C. The main purpose of this step is to form a PC monomer and the catalyst in which most of the pyridine is removed with the chloride anion. In an alternate method, bisphenol A and diphenyl carbonate are made to react in a temperature range between 180 and 220°C resulting in a phenol molecule and PC. However, one of the advantage of this process is more impurity can be generated. After either method of the process above, PC is then converted from pellets to the desired shape by melting it and forcing it into a mold to provide the needed shape based on the application. This process is done repeatedly. In the extrusion process, the melt is rapidly cooled after the molten PC is passed through a die giving the material its final shape. In the molding process, the PC melt is transferred to a mold then cooled and this process is ideal for computer and automotive components (Polycarbonates).

Distribution and Transportation:

When I doing the research process in this area, I really cannot find any information about distribution and transportation. The only thing I can find is a list of company names who sell and distribute polycarbonate to customer. Therefore, I can assume crude oil is the only raw material being used in this category.

Use, Re-Use and Maintenance:

Although polycarbonate is known for its high impact resistance, it is very susceptible to scratching. Because of this reason, clear surfaces such as a polycarbonate lenses in a pair of glasses will typically be coated with a scratch-resistant layer for protection (Rogers).

Recycle:

Although polycarbonate is coded 7 which indicate it is difficult to recycle. It is fully recyclable because it is made from a natural resource which provides an excellent yield for plastic recycling factories. A lot of research has been done in this field and polycarbonate bottles and CDs are being extensively recycled. The mechanical methods for recycling polycarbonate is to sort, shred and wash. Those processes turn polycarbonate into a granulate and ready for manufacturers to use again. Other method of recycling polycarbonate is by chemical recycling. PC is made to react with phenol in the presence of a catalyst to form BPA and DPC monomers. After purification, both these monomers are used to produce the polymer. A CD includes at least 95% polycarbonate with the dye and reflective layers on the surface. The dye layer has organic dyes such as the metal azo and cyanine while the reflective layer contains metals such as aluminum for laser reflection. However, recycled PC may show lesser resilience when compared to newly manufactured PC since addition of fillers and pigments may reduce the resilience of the plastic. Chemicals can be used to improve impact resistance in recycled polycarbonate. Therefore, recycled PC may reduce impact resistance is not a problem to be concerned and they could be used for most of the applications that virgin polycarbonate is used.

Until recently, IBM has developed a new way to recycle polycarbonates, they call it “new, one-step chemical process” that converts polycarbonates and prevents the leaching of bisphenol A, a controversial chemical used to manufacture that polymer (Jim). Jeanette Garcia, works at IBM Research’s Almaden laboratory in San Jose, found that the addition of a fluoride reactant, heat and a base similar to baking powder produces a new plastic that will not leach BPA. Since IBM is not a chemical company, the need a new partner in the industry to bring their research to next level.

Waste Management:

Manage the waste of polycarbonate is always a big problem to most of the scientists because of its bisphenol A content. However, scientists from ACS' Biomacromolecules, a monthly journal, found the key to disposing of the waste in an eco-friendly way in their new study. Polycarbonate is an extremely recalcitrant plastic, used in everything from such as eyeglass lenses, CDs, and cellphone cases. In their study, scientists pretreated polycarbonate with ultraviolet light and heat and exposed it to three kinds of fungi which are used commercially for environmental remediation of the toughest pollutants (Artham). The scientists found that fungi grew better on pretreated plastic, using its BPA and other ingredients as a source of energy and breaking down the plastic.

Conclusion:

Beside polycarbonate, polylactic acid (PLA) and Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS) are being used broadly as well. Even though they all have different advantages and disadvantages, I believe polycarbonate is a grand addition to the 3D printing materials stable. It will become even more worthwhile as 3D printing techniques advance, and if it is treated and prepared in the right way, you can be assured that it will also be fault free.

Bibliography

G.P.,Thomas. "Materials Used In 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing". AZoM. AZoNetwork, 4 Feb. 2013. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Jim, Johnson. " IBM develops polycarbonate recycling technology". PlasticsNews. Crain Communications, Inc., 27 Jun. 2016. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Artham, Trishu. "Biodegradation of Physicochemically Treated Polycarbonate by Fungi". Biomacromolecules. American Chemical Society, 7 Dec. 2009. Web. 9 Nov. 2016.

Tess. "Australian researchers develop 3D printable smart polymers with versatile functions". 3Ders. 3Ders, 19 Oct. 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

Canton, Christina. "Raw materials for 3D Printing". Think3D. Think3D, 17 May. 2015. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

"Moving Toward Eco-Friendly Manufacturing". My3DConcepts. My 3D Concepts LLC, 2016. Web. 25 Oct. 2016.

"Polycarbonates". EssentialChemicalIndustry. CIEC Promoting Science at the University of York, 18 Mar. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Rogers, Tony. "Everything You Need To Know About Polycarbonate (PC)". CreativeMechanisms. CreativeMechanisms, 21 Aug. 2015. Web. 29 Nov. 2016.

Kenneth Ng

913400072

Cogdell

DES40A

1 December 2016

Research and Paper Assignment: 3 D Printing-Energy

3 D printing is a technology that was first discovered by Chuck Hull in the 80’s. The technology involves the process of adding layers into a file one at a time in order to come up with a three dimensional object (“How 3D Printers Work” 1). The technology is also synonymously known as additive manufacturing. 3 D printing has become famous with many users because of many reasons but partly because of the huge potential it has of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and energy use (BSR 4). More than ever before, there is now need for green and efficient energy sources that will be able to power innovations and bring about development in the world. 3 D printing falls into this category of efficiency and environmental friendly because of its energy use. Energy in 3 D orienting is significantly low because of both distributed and on demand manufacturing as well as the ability to produce less heavy parts (BSR 5).

The energy impact of 3-D printing will majorly depend on the specific printing technology as well as other variables (McAlister 216). The fact that the technology has been hailed as the game changer in manufacturing does not mean that it is perfect. The pros and cons to it are almost at balance but the good thing is that the cons are manageable. It is also important to mention that the user groups of 3 D printing largely influence energy use in terms of the life cycle use. The three categories are consumer use, industrial use and retails use. The machine design also largely dictates the energy impact of 3D printing. This design will include specific details of things such as material type, layer thickness, and process speed and build volume. As for the build volume, energy efficiency gains will be experience for those machines that will be able to print a huge number of parts at one go (McAlister 216). Material type depending on its densities and heat capacities will also affect the energy gains. Long process speeds will increase energy impacts for every part and low layer thickness will increase energy consumption (McAlister 216).

In an energy analysis of this technology, we could use an analytical approach that is both comprehensive and accurate. This approach puts into use three major dimensions. The material dimension, time dimension and energy dimension can be used to analyze the electrical energy and what determines the energy intake (Peng 64). The embedded energy includes the energy as well as the materials used in the production of a product (McAlister 219). Depending on the choice of material, the embodied energy can be high or low. Complicated material including plastic and metals could result to high embodied energy. This plus the intake time taken will determine the waste released. As for the electrical energy, during the printing process this energy will be transformed into mechanical and thermal energy and then it will later on be released as heat loss (Peng 64). This goes to show that electrical energy has a very big environmental impact among the 3 D printers. In the process of selecting the right material to use, it is important for one to select a material with the least impact. This would mean that the material will be able to optimize things such as emissions, shrinkage as well as embodied energy (McAlister 219).

Looking at the wider impact of this technology, there is need to assess the raw materials used in production, assembly and in the sales process (McAlister 218). The base material that is used in printing largely determines the environmental, green impact of 3 D printing (Kovac 1). Some of the commonly used material is metal and plastic. As for plastic, there is PLA form of plastic that is biodegradable which has low heating requirement that translates to low levels of energy consumption (McAlister 217). As for the metals, the process of sintering is very important as waste can be reduced by using laser fuse powder (McAlister 217). This process allows for re use of unused powder unlike in the PLA sintering process. However, it is important to note that much more energy is needed to melt metal as compared to plastics (Yoon et al 266). This means that metal casting will consume far higher energy than the process of injection molding.

Unlike other forms of technology where the supply/transportation chain is long because of a number of players being involved, this does not exist in 3 D printing. In contrast, 3 D printing will do away with the transportation of parts as well as the goods (McAlister 217). Also the fact that 3 D printing enables the production of lighter parts then the energy used is also significantly cut down. The main advantage of production of lighter parts is in the transportation. When the parts are less heavy, it then requires less energy to transport and move around these parts thus cutting down on energy and increasing cost savings (BSR 5). Nonetheless still, transportation takes up only a small part of the lifecycle environment impact and so even with these changes in transportation there will still be little movement in environmental impact reduction.

When it comes to recycling, 3 D printing has made it easier for companies to embrace recycling and reuse and explore ways through which these materials used can remain durable over a long period of time. Recycling basically demands using a worn out version of something to create something fresh and much better than the worn out version. Among the many materials used in 3 D printing ABS is one of the most commonly used materials. This material is easy to recycle and is commonly used in industries and even households. Compared to PLA, ABS has high embodied energy. The heating requirements are high and thus energy consumption is subsequently high. This means that the durability of ABS will be higher than that of PLA. For this reason, recycling of ABS is much easier and efficient as compared to other materials. Whether or not a product can be recycled largely depends on the energy consumption that is determined by the material used.

Moreover, there is another material has been using in the 3D printing is generally. It is called Polycarbonate(PC). During our research, we try to use this material as a sample in our poster. Polycarbonate is versatile. It is a tough plastic used for a variety of applications, from bulletproof windows to compact disks. Polycarbonate is commonly used to make household appliances, auto parts, DVDs, or bottles because it is rigid and easy to mold. It is also a good choice for 3D printing materials because the melting point of it is relatively higher than usual. The energy will be transformed into thermal energy when the printer was printing product by Polycarbonate(PC) during the printing process. The printing temperature of Polycarbonate will be from the 300-320 ℃ reduced to 250-270 ℃ due to lower printing temperature and it will be able to significantly reduce the printing process of deformation and curl. Compare to another common printing material, Polylactic Acid(PLA), Polycarbonate is relatively better. This is because the Specific Heat of Polycarbonate (1000 to 1200 J/kg-K ) is lower than Polylactic Acid(1800 J/kg-K). In short, we can understand Polycarbonate is a specific material for 3 D printing. In fact, even it is special in the aspect of “material,” it is similar to other printing materials in the aspects of energy; which means there will only and always be thermal energy and mechanical energy involved during the printing process. And that is also the characteristic of 3D printing materials in aspects of energy.

With 3 D printing, material waste is not a major player in terms of lifecycle impact (McAlister 217). The machine type dictates the waste volumes that will be released. Some machines will have very high levels of waste while others will have low levels of waste. All this depends on how the machine has been designed and set up to perform its functions. An example is the inkjet style 3D printers that are said to be capable of having waste levels of up to 40% of the material used without even including the support material (McAlister 217). This is a very high waste level especially when it is compared to FDM machines which have little to no waste. As earlier mentioned, the waste is not a major player in terms of lifecycle impact but nonetheless still it is important because of the energy that has been used to print these waste materials (McAlister 217). In order to reduce impact one will need to use printing technology with low waste levels, look for feedstock with the option of waste return or fall back to recycling. Moreover,there have one other material also using in the 3D printing is very common in now a day which is call

There is also the question of emissions from energy used in 3D plastic printers. When using these kinds of printers, the plastics are normally heated at extremely high temperatures. A huge amount of energy is therefore used and in the process ultra-fine particles are released. These emitted particles can be extremely dangerous for human life as it contains toxic substance in it. Exposure to these toxic particles is a key concern for users of 3 D printers. This is an area that still needs to be addressed if 3 D printing is to become revolutionary as it has been touted. All in all, material used, transportation, waste, recycling and emissions form part of the life cycle of this technology. 3 D printing is a technology that has so far worked well but still needs ramifications to make it even better. The full potentials of 3 D printing is yet to be realized but the final step to that is surely not far away.

Work Consulted

Gilpin, Lyndsey. "How Recycled Plastic For 3D Printing Will Drive Sustainability And Improve Social Consciousness - Techrepublic". TechRepublic. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Brown, Ariella. "3D Printing Plastic — Distributed Recyling And Distributing The Benefits". 3D Printing Industry. N.p., 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

Wittbrodt, B.T. et al. "Life-Cycle Economic Analysis Of Distributed Manufacturing With Open-Source 3-D Printers". Mechatronics 23.6 (2013): 713-726. Web.

Peng, Tao. "Analysis Of Energy Utilization In 3D Printing Processes". Procedia CIRP 40 (2016): 62-67. Web.

Yoon, Hae-Sung et al. "A Comparison Of Energy Consumption In Bulk Forming, Subtractive, And Additive Processes: Review And Case Study". International Journal of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing-Green Technology 1.3 (2014): 261-279. Web.

Kovac, Kath. "How Green Is 3D Printing?". N.p., 2013. Print.

"How 3D Printers Work". Energy.gov. N.p., 2016. Web. 30 Nov. 2016.

McAlister, Catriona. "The Potential Of 3D Printing To Reduce The Environmental Impacts Of Production". phd. ECEEE INDUSTRIAL SUMMER STUDY PROCEEDINGS, 2014. Print.

Hayes, David. 3-D Printing: A Boon Or A Bane?. 2013. Print. The Environmental FORUM.

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"Compare PC to PLA." Compare PC to PLA. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2016.

Work Cited