Deborah Giannetti

Combining Foaming Techniques To Attain TPU Porous Heterostructures

Abstract: The production of porous thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) heterostructures was achieved by combining physical gas foaming with fused deposition modeling (FDM). The choice of combining these two techniques lies in the possibility of creating a macrostructure by FDM and a microstructure by foaming. The thermal stability and rheological properties of the polymer were investigated prior to foaming. Three different foaming processes are proposed: Pressure Quench (PQ), Temperature Rise (TR) and 3D Foam Printing (3DFP). The morphologies of the foams were evaluated by SEM and the expanded structures were thermally and mechanically characterized to highlight the differences between these process methods. The results presented in this paper open up the possibility of producing objects with complex geometry and porosity avoiding the traditional processes of material removal.

Biography: After earning a Bachelor's Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Naples, Deborah continued her studies and obtained a Master's Degree in Materials Engineering. For her thesis she has collaborated with the University of Naples FoamLab, focusing her research on the production of TPU foams.

She is currently doing an internship in R&D on the production of plastics.