Soft Elastomers for Fused Deposition Modeling

This paper describes an ongoing effort towards extending the capabilities of the fused deposition modeling (FDM) process to soft thermoplastic elastomers (STPEs). Two thermoplastic elastomers with hardness of 72 and 78 Shore A, respectively, have been processed into 0.070" (1.78 mm) filament stock for use in the FDM 1600 rapid prototyping system. The FDM 1600 liquifier subsystem has been modified to accommodate the reduced column strength ofthe STPE filament stock. Sample STPE parts have been fabricated with ABS material support structures.