Polypropylene Filament Fabrication for Material Extrusion

Polypropylene's rheological behavior is one of the main problems that make Material Extrusion (MEX) uncommon for this material, mainly if recycled materials are used. These limitations may be overcome by accurately studying the thermal and rheological properties and transferring helpful information on processing. Thermal characterization and rheological analysis are initially employed to understand the peculiar properties of virgin and recycled polypropylene. Proper filaments are then fabricated by optimizing the extrusion process and parameters. Extruded filaments were finally realized to check fabrication quality by mechanical tests.