3D PRINTING OF FABRICS: AN ANALYSIS OF MICRO-POROUS STRUCTURES IN ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

3D printing via fused filament fabrication (FFF) has become a versatilealternative for rapid prototyping and producing parts with complex and customizabledesigns. Currently, there is a noticeable lack of published articles addressing thechallenges of 3D micro-printing fabric meshes. Therefore, the objective of this studywas to carry out a case study to evaluate the application of the FFF process for printingpolymeric fabrics with micro-porous structures. The printing limits for minimum fabricthickness and porous size were analyzed. It was possible to print structures with 42and 19 μm openings using grid and rectilinear patterns, respectively. With therefinement of the process, it is feasible to create even smaller porous structures.