Mechanical Characteristics of ABS Plastic After Microwave Irradiation

The effect of microwave radiation treatment on the widely used technical acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (ABS) polymer widely used for 3D-printing is studied. The chemical structure and tensile strength characteristics of filled (with 3 wt % carbon fiber) and unfilled ABS plastic irradiated with microwave radiation for 300, 600, 900, and 1200 s are evaluated. It is shown that the effective irradiation time for the mechanical improvement of the filled samples is 300 s, while no significant changes in the mechanical characteristics of the initial ABS samples are found.