Biodegradable 3-D Printed Molds for FRP Tank Part Manufacturing

(Design Tanks LLC)

The common material to build FRP molds are steel, aluminum and fiber glass. After a while (normally 10 years), these molds need to be replaced and they are not bio degradable. In a research to use biodegradable mold, several materials were investigated. Polylactic acid (PLA) was used in a 3D printer and the obtained molds were used in producing molds. It was noted that the 3D printed molds take less time to make. For example, PLA anti vortex mold needs 1.5 hr. less than FRP made mold. The importance of the research is replacing non-biodegradable molds with biodegradable molds.