A Study on the Tensile Behavior of Specimens Manufactured by FDM from Recycled PETG in the Context of the Circular Economy Transition

This article presents the results of a study on the influence of 3D printing by Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) parameters on the tensile behavior of parts made from Everfil recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol (rPETG). For this study, 27 rPETG tensile specimens with 100% recycled material were manufactured using an Anycubic 4 Max Pro 2.0 3D printer and by varying the printing parameters: height of the deposited layer in one pass, Lh, and filling percentage, Id. The Lh was set to 0.10, 0.15, and 0.20 mm and the Id was set to 50, 75, and 100 %. The two variable parameters, Id and Lh, influenced the tensile characteristics of the rPETG specimens: maximum breaking strength, percent elongation at break, and modulus of elasticity. The ultimate breaking strength and modulus of elasticity of the rPETG specimens were most influenced by Id, whereas the percentage elongation at break was mostly affected by Lh. The optimized FDM parameters for the fabrication of rPETG tensile specimens were found to be Lh = 0.20 mm and Id = 100%.