Development of automated testing machine for polymers used in 3D printing

Abstract

This paper presents the development, construction and use of a test bench to measure the elastic characteristics of plastics used in 3D printing machines by polymeric filament deposition. Printed products of industrial or commercial utility require adequate equipment to determine their elastic properties or that of the polymers used. Such equipment is usually expensive and does not always have accessories for tests on plastics. The equipment developed in this article uses Arduino boards, appropriate sensors and programming in MATLAB to carry out the control and registration of displacement and force. It offers economic advantages, without losing measurement quality, which makes it affordable to any educational establishment or research center with its consequent advantage. To demonstrate its usefulness, contrasts are made with professional machines by characterizing elastic properties of polymers used in 3D printing.