IMPROVED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF 3D-PRINTED PARTS BY FUSED DEPOSITION MODELING PROCESSED UNDER THE EXCLUSION OF OXYGEN

3D printing via fused deposition modeling (FDM) has developed to the probably most common rapid prototyping technology due to its easy of use and broad range of available materials. Nowadays, FDM printed parts are on the way to be used in various applications ranging from all-day use to more technical purposes. As a matter of fact, the mechanical strength is one of the main parameters to be optimized by the choice of the material and the 3Dprinting settings, such as layer height, nozzle temperature and printing speed. Here, we report on the improvement of the mechanical properties of printed parts by use of an inert gas atmosphereduring the print. A typical FDM printer has been inserted into the nitrogen atmosphere of a glove box and used without modifications to print parts made of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene and polyamide as printing materials with a high mechanical load tolerance