Exploration of breakaway support materials in high-temperature material extrusion: A mini-review and preliminary study

초록

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the current state of soluble and breakaway support materials in material extrusion (MEX). Sec. 2 summarizes studies on solvent-soluble supports such as polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and high-impact polystyrene (HIPS) and discusses their post-processing advantages as well as their limitations caused by low thermal resistance, with glass transition temperature (Tg) of approximately 50 degrees C for PVA and 100 degrees C for HIPS. Sec. 3 reviews existing breakaway support designed for super engineering plastic (SEP). In Sec. 4, building on the findings of this review, a preliminary experimental study was performed to evaluate five thermoplastics, polyarylate (PAR), polysulfone (PSU), and three types of polycarbonate (PC), as potential breakaway supports for polyetheretherketone (PEEK)-MEX. PAR demonstrated stable structural performance and a low interfacial separation force of approximately 297 N, which is comparable to a commercial reference system (similar to 314 N), whereas the PC candidates (Tg approximate to 150 degrees C) either collapsed during MEX or bonded too strongly to the model. These results suggest that PAR is a promising breakaway support material for PEEK. Finally, we propose challenges and directions for SEP-support in the future.

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