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Rethinking Timber: Investigation into the Use of Waste Macadamia Nut Shells for Additive Manufacturing

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Abstract

In this article, the feasibility of turning macadamia nutshells, a waste product from the forestry and agricultural industries, into a three-dimensional (3D) printed, innovative, microtimber product is examined by composing a wood plastic feed stock for fusion deposition modeling. Different ratios of micro-ground macadamia nutshells and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastics were mixed with a binding agent to extrude a range of filaments. By using a commercial 3D printer, these filaments helped to fabricate specimens that were tested in tension and compression. The results show that printed samples of macadamia-nutshell—ABS composites offer a viable alternative to commercially available wood polymer composite filaments. Although they possess similar mechanical properties, they have a lower density, making them suitable for a range of lightweight product applications. The research demonstrates that there are new opportunities for the use of macadamia nutshell filament in additive manufacturing as a result of its enhanced properties compared with traditional wood filaments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Civil Engineering, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Jordan Girdis, Lauren Gaudion, Gwénaëlle Proust & Andy Dong

  2. Faculty of Architecture, Design and Planning, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, 2006, Australia

    Sandra Löschke

Authors
  1. Jordan Girdis
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  2. Lauren Gaudion
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  3. Gwénaëlle Proust
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  4. Sandra Löschke
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  5. Andy Dong
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Correspondence to Jordan Girdis.

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Girdis, J., Gaudion, L., Proust, G. et al. Rethinking Timber: Investigation into the Use of Waste Macadamia Nut Shells for Additive Manufacturing. JOM 69, 575–579 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-2213-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11837-016-2213-6

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