Development of translucent FDM parts by post-processing

Rapid prototyping (RP) technologies provide the ability to fabricate initial prototypes from various model materials. Stratasys' fused deposition modeling (FDM) is a typical RP process that can fabricate prototypes out of ABS plastic. Translucent plastics are commonly used in packaging for mechanical and electrical components. Although various materials are used in RP, translucent RP parts are not readily available from most RP processes. In this paper, two post-processing techniques were applied in order to increase the optical transmissivity of the parts made of ABSi. First, elevated temperature was applied resulting in increased transmissivity while dimensional shrinkage was observed. Second, resin infiltration and surface sanding provided up to 16 percent transmissivity without shrinkage. These post-processes can be selectively applied to increase the transmissivity of ABSi parts. Thus, translucent FDM parts can be fabricated from the regular FDM process followed by the post-processes developed in this study.