An Interesting Read on Joining Plastic Parts

[syscrusher]

The article is discussing methods to join ABS plastic parts and the pros and cons of each. The interesting twist is that the reason for the discussion is a case study for a customer of the big 3D printer company Stratasys. This customer is building the first car ever to have the entire body prototyped using 3D printing.

 

“We should want to own and drive a clean, energy-efficient car,” said Jim Kor, president and senior designer for the Winnipeg-based engineering group of KOR EcoLogic. His passion for the environment led him to design the principles of sustainability into a new car code–named Urbee, created with the production capabilities of Stratasys. The two–passenger Urbee, which stands for urban electric with ethanol as backup, was designed to use as little energy possible. It is capable of reaching more than 200 mpg on the highway and 100 mpg in the city. And now, it is the first prototype car ever to have its entire body printed with an additive process."

 

http://www.stratasys.com/solutions/finishing-processes/bonding-and-gluing

 

BTW, Where can I buy ABS rod preferably local and cheap? I need to replace a couple of the pencil sized knob nubs that hold side panels onto the Gen 1.2 models.

[luvmy40]

Harbor Freight sells ABS filler rod and cheap plastic welders. Plastic welding takes a good bit of practice and is very difficult to get consistently strong welds. I have had excellent results fixing broken body panels with molded Kydex reinforcement panels and DevCon epoxy.