Development and Characterization of Novel Materials for the Advancement of Additive Manufacturing by Material Extrusion 3D Printing

The development of additive manufacturing technologies has been under the spotlight from the past decade due to its enormous potential to disrupt current manufacturing processes. Material extrusion 3D printing (ME3DP) is the most common type of additive manufacturing technology as it experienced an exponential growth after the expiration of the fused deposition modeling patent filed in 1989 by Scott Crump. The large interest behind this technology is generated from the capacity to create complex shapes, rapid prototyping, relatively ease of use, low cost, and high accessibility. The gradual evolution of material extrusion 3D printing calls to become a technology ordinarily used for rapid prototyping into a rapid manufacturing technology where ready to market functional products are created in a fully automated fashion. Materials development is an important aspect for the evolution of ME3DP as the introduction of new materials with a varied array of physical qualities would expand the applicability of this technology into more fields. The goal of this work is to introduce new ME3DP materials with tailored physical qualities along processing parameters and material characterization. The studies covered in this dissertation entail the creation of a polymer blend based on acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and an elastomer, an introduction of a new type of in situ fiber reinforcement for different polymers, and phase characterization of the polymer blend through scanning transmission electron microscope