Flexural properties of copper-ABS in metal injection molding process for FDM feedstock

This paper aims to investigate the flexural strength and hardness of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and five different samples of copper filled in ABS parts made by injection molding process for fused deposition modeling (FDM) feedstock wire. In this study, the effect of copper powder was investigated as a filler material in polymer matrix composite (PMC) and ABS was chosen as a matrix material. The detailed formulations of compounding ratio by weight percentage with various combinations of the new PMC are investigated experimentally. Based on the result obtained, it was found that, increment of 71% to 75% copper filler affected the flexural strength, and hardness values. The highly filled copper content in ABS composites increases the mechanical properties and density of PMC material through the injection molding process. The potential of development of a new composite material with metal loading in the PMC will be explored for the FDM rapid prototyping process.