Study of printing parameters on part performance in foamy TPU using material extrusion technology
Francesco de PALMA, Alessandro PELLEGRINI, Roberto SPINA, Fulvio LAVECCHIA
Abstract: Recent advances in Additive Manufacturing, particularly Material Extrusion (MEX), expand foam thermoplastic polyurethane’s use in medical and fashion applications. Studies and applications, still in the early stages, require further development. This work investigates how the properties of Foam TPU change with print parameters such as Extrusion Temperature (ET) and Flow Rate (FR). Cylindrical compression test specimens were printed using MEX technology by varying three levels of each process parameter. After, compressive strength, density and aesthetic aspect were analyzed. The result showed that increasing ET and FR, the specimens density increased while compression strength decreased. Using low values of ET and FR, the aesthetic aspect improved, with a reduction of superficial mistakes and flaws.
Keywords
Material Extrusion, Polymers, Compression Test
Published online 9/10/2025, 8 pages
Copyright © 2025 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA
Citation: Francesco de PALMA, Alessandro PELLEGRINI, Roberto SPINA, Fulvio LAVECCHIA, Study of printing parameters on part performance in foamy TPU using material extrusion technology, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 57, pp 294-301, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644903735-34
The article was published as article 34 of the book Italian Manufacturing Association Conference
Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 license. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.
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