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Abstract(s)
The combination of thermoplastics and natural organic fillers are being increasingly
explored in recent times where the need of renewable resource products
with low environmental impact is in great demand, especially in the consumer
market. The use of cork is an example of a sustainable and renewable
material, that has been used in the footware industry, but not in a large scale.
This project proposes the development of an additive manufacturing (AM) machine
to process a compound material with 78% of grounded cork, with its grains
individually encapsulated in a thermoplastic matrix. The intended application of
these products is the manufacturing of sole preforms for the footware industry,
that will be processed afterwords by compression molding. Motivated by the necessity
of increasing the consistency of the molded components and the need to
control the hardness of the final products, additive manufacture is a possible tool
to be used.
The solution found was to develop a CNC device to move an infra-red light
source that provides thermal energy, bonding the thermoplastic in the compound,
creating the layer shape. Specific post processors were developed to
adequately modify the machine code to the specific control needed of this process.
Success was achieved in the production of an AM manufactured midsole, but
further development is needed to improve the quality, especially in the areas of
heat control and dimensional accuracy.
Description
Keywords
Additive manufacture Cork Natural fillers Thermoplastics Foot-ware Environmental impact