Rheology and thermomechanical evaluation of additively manufactured acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) with optimized tungsten carbide (WC) nano-ceramic content

Tungsten carbide (WC), a superhard and thermally stable ceramic, is widely used in several industries. Its exceptional features portray WC as a promising reinforcement and stabilizing agent for popular polymeric matrices deployed in material extrusion (MEX) 3D-Printing, such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS). This potential was investigated in depth and is presented herein. ABS/WC nanocomposite filaments were prepared by melt extrusion and tested. A filler loading of 0 wt % up to 10 wt % WC, in 2 wt % steps were fabricated. The impact of the WC nanopowder content on the structural, rheological, thermal, mechanical, and morphological characteristics of nanocomposite filaments and 3D printed samples was investigated with the aid of fifteen (15) different tests. The experiments revealed excellent thermal stability of the developed nanocomposites, as well as non-Newtonian shear thinning behavior of their melts, which is encouraging for their processability. WC nanoparticles impressively upgraded the mechanical capacity of the optimized nanocomposites in comparison to that of pure ABS. ABS with 4.0 wt % WC grade exhibited a noticeable increase in most of the mechanical characteristics; Compressive, flexural, and tensile strength all rose by 25.9%, 29.4%, and 20.9% respectively, while the microhardness increased by 100.3%, showing potential for use in applications requiring high wear resistance. The findings of the current research indicate that novel cost-effective ABS/WC composites have high potential and industrial merit for a variety of demanding applications with ABS-based composites.