Evaluation of dielectric properties of 3D printed objects based on printing resolution

Abstract

Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) is one of the most common methods of 3D printing used in many fields of industry, especially in development departments. Since plastics are fundamental materials for electronics industry, the aim of this work is to examine dielectric properties of objects printed from such materials. This work’s contribution is the evaluation of the dependency of the printed objects properties on printing quality and the use of 3D printed plastic components in electronics. For the experiment, three commonly used materials in FDM were chosen – PLA, ABS and PET-G. The materials were pure without any additional admixtures and the relevant test samples were printed with different printing resolution (height of one layer). The following properties were examined – permittivity, dissipation factor and dielectric strength. The results showed that permittivity slightly decreased with increasing height of one layer. Dissipation factor varied significantly in the measured range and there was no apparent dependency on the printing resolution. Rather, it was an indicator of the printing quality. Dielectric strength also slightly decreased with the decreasing resolution; however this parameter was governed primarily by the employed material. Generally, an improvement of the dielectric properties of these materials is required due to a relatively small dielectric strength, for example by adding admixtures to the base material or better printing quality.