Utilizing Bosch Generated Carbon for Additive Manufacturing

Additive manufacturing onboard ISS provides the ability to manufacture parts on demand allowing for critical replacement parts and tools to be manufactured without the need to wait for them to arrive. ABS filament is used on ISS for additive manufacturing, and although ABS is a relatively strong plastic, when ABS manufactured parts are used as tools there is a great chance of the manufactured parts to fracture. The addition of carbon to the ABS filament is likely to solve this issue and the issue of Bosch waste carbon utilization.

ABS materials physical, electrical, and optical characteristics can be improved by the addition of carbon. Carbon has long been used in industry as a reinforcement providing structural strength to materials. The addition of Bosch carbon to ABS filament could greatly increase the structural strength of manufactured parts allowing for more durable and reliable parts to be printed, as well as utilizing a waste product of the Bosch reaction.

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