Annotated Summary final

Tian, X., Liu, T., Wang, Q., Dilmurat, A., Li, D., & Ziegmann, G. (2017). Recycling and remanufacturing of 3D printed continuous carbon fiber reinforced PLA composites. Journal of Cleaner Production, 142, 1609–1618.
doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.11.139

In this article, it primarily focuses on a more environmentally-friendly production of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites, by the “recycling and re-manufacturing of 3D printed carbon fiber reinforced PLA composites”. This method of production involves impregnating the carbon fiber into a thermoplastic meld in a regularly arranged manner, and then re-melting and gently pulling the matrix material continuously using a hot air gun to produce new filaments. This process created a new filament which exhibited “25% higher bending strength” and higher tensile performance compared to the original printed composites, despite some signs of aging within the PLA composite. With a 100% recovery rate for the carbon fiber and 73% for the PLA matrix during recycling, it allows a potential method for large scale, low-cost fabrication of recyclable composites.

This article provides a useful source of information for our research project on the use of 3D printing to produce a bicycle. Not only does the article show that the carbon fiber and PLA composite material can be recycled to a large degree, it also shows that the new combined material exhibits mechanical properties that surpass that of its original printed composites. This means that not only will 3D printed bicycles be more environmentally friendly, but they will also be as strong, if not stronger after recycling. While the experiment in this article only involved a small amount of material, it still provides us with useful information about the potential of using recycled 3D printing materials in the production of 3D printed bicycles.