Long spanding Acetone Vapor Bath to strengthen parts?

[Solidabble]

As we all know 3D printed objects have weaknesses due to the layering of filament. So my question is.... what if you were to submit a printed object to a very lengthy acetone vapor bath so that the layers bond together more? Would this make the object stronger? Has anyone ever tried it?

[avocadobaby]

I know this is an old post, but I reckon it would make it stronger

These people reckon it does. not very good evidence I admit:
http://www.makeraser.com/smooth-and-...en-your-prints

It would depend how deeply the acetone can penetrate, especially if you have a complex multi layer object.

It would be an interesting experiement to see what force is required in a "shear" test to break laminated abs with and without acetone vapour treatment.

You know what would be cool An acetone nozzle. dribbles acetone on every layer of filament. not sure if that'd work at such high heat it'd probably just evaporate straight away.

[Hugues]

last time i tried the ABS part kind of melted and deformed.
I don't think you can re-inforce an ABS part this way, at least not while keeping its original shape.

[avocadobaby]

heres a better one

this guy actually did some tests and looks at acetone prints under microscopy.

http://benchapman4.wordpress.com/2014/05/08/increasing-toughness-of-3d-printed-plastic-using-acetone-vapor/



He also has some strength graphs with and without abs

[Hugues]

interesting.

from the article:

Additionally, post-treatment with part exposure to acetone vapor greatly improved strain, toughness, and surface finish in exchange for a small reduction in stiffness and tensile strength as a result of the melting and fusion of the ABS strands

[richardphat]

interesting.

from the article:

Additionally, post-treatment with part exposure to acetone vapor greatly improved strain, toughness, and surface finish in exchange for a small reduction in stiffness and tensile strength as a result of the melting and fusion of the ABS strands

Yup, you kill all those cavities responsible for stress concentration. But from my experience, it's quite annoying with acetone vapor bath. I tend to leave it for too long or not enough. I can't seem to sucessfully get a good timing.

[old man emu]

From the article: " a shaft printed in a vertical orientation with many small round layers would be easy to snap, but the same part printed in a horizontal orientation with a few long layers would significantly less brittle." I know that w:hen I printed this it separated very easily and looked like a slinky.

If I was to rotate the object 90 degrees to lay it on its side, how would I get the cylindrical shape?

OME

[Marm]

Being an axle cap, I would be worried about impacts splitting it along the layers if you printed it sideways with supports. And support printing would be ugly with that.

I've found that coating my parts in a 5 minute epoxy adds a lot a strength to them and gives it a nice a glossy smooth finish.

[richardphat]

Well I had this issue, priting cylindrical from vertical. I found that printing at low z resolution and increasing temperature of nozzle, with fan off increased the strength of the printed object.

[old man emu]

Being an axle cap, I would be worried about impacts splitting it along the layers if you printed it sideways with supports. .

It was only an experiment in design and printing. I bought metal axle caps for actual use.

Old Man Emu