Cultural Heritage in the Digital Age:

An Evaluation of 3D Print Materials and their

Applicability within Cultural Material
Conservation

Evan Tindal
GCCMC Presentations
18 October 2017
 Project Overview

3D printing in cultural heritage

Applications
Gaps Project aims and objectives
Problem that needs solving
Experimental:
Materials Selected
Methodology
Results (ABS)
Interpretation
 3D Printing in Cultural Heritage

1. 3D Printed Art
3D Printed Art
 3D Printing in Cultural Heritage

2. Loss Compensation
Digitise area of loss
3D print detachable fill
Loss Compensation
 Gaps How To Solve Them

Gaps in the literature

How will these 3D print materials perform
in a museum environment?
Through which mechanisms do they
degrade? Causal agents?
If employed in conjunction with another
object (loss compensation) will subsequent
deterioration harm the other object?
 AIMS and OBJECTIVES

Simulate deterioration Experimental

3D print plastic polymers (majority!)
Material Selection
Different 3D printing processes
Materials commonly employed by artists
(survey results)
Access and Cost
Accelerated ageing
Ultraviolet
Visible Light
 Material Selection

FDM/Extruder 3D printer
ABS
ABSi
PLA
ASA
Photopolymer
Stratasys VeroClear
Stratasys VeroWhite
Binding
VisiJet Powder (Cynoacrylate)
VisiJet Powder (Paraloid B72)
Selective Laser Sintering
Nylon 12
 Experimental

1. Ultraviolet Radiation
QUV Accelerated Weather Tester
Modified ASTM Standard D3429-13
1.20 W/m2 at 340 nm; 60 Celsius
9 material types; 4 weeks
12 samples/material type (3 Sets of 4) 108
total samples
One sample from each set removed every
week for 4 weeks (27 samples/week)
UV Accelerated Ageing
 Experimental

2. Visible Light Ageing

Atlas Ci4000 Weather-Ometer xenon-arc
apparatus
ASTM D4459, the ageing of plastics
indoors
0.33 W/m2 at 340 nm, 55 Celsius, 50% RH
9 material types; 4 weeks
12 samples/material type (3 Sets of 4) 108
total samples
One sample from each set removed every 100
hours for 400 hours (27 samples/week)
Visual Light Accelerated Ageing
 Results

Colourimetry
Yellowing (physical deterioration)
Konica Minolta
Spectrophotometer 700d
CIE L*a*b* Colour Space
Delta E 2000
 Colourimetry ABS (UV)

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

Week 1 Week 2 Week 3 Week 4
Delta E 2000 Delta E 2000 Delta E 2000 Delta E 2000
UV_ABS1_04.001 14.19 20.29 23.28 26.28

UV_ABS1_04.002 13.77 20.15 22.97 25.93

UV_ABS1_04.003 13.44 19.41 22.84 25.62

UV_ABS2_08.001 13.93 20.04 23.19 25.18

UV_ABS2_08.002 13.40 19.54 22.74 25.02

UV_ABS2_08.003 13.24 19.78 22.67 25.89

UV_ABS3_12.001 15.72 20.03 23.48 25.34

UV_ABS3_12.002 15.14 19.42 23.32 26.35

UV_ABS3_12.003 14.62 18.91 22.89 25.06

Colourimetry ABS (UV)
 Colour Change Sample Evidence

Week 0

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4
 Results

Fourier-transform
infrared spectroscopy
(FTIR)
ALPHA FTIR-ATR
benchtop unit
4000-375nm
32 scans
Absorbance spectra
Background between
each scan
 FTIR-ATR ABS (UV)

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

0.7
Monosubstituted
aromatic group
0.6
Styrene

0.5

Aromatic ring-
0.4 stretching
CH out-of-
Absorbance

vibrations
C-H plane
0.3 stretching vibrations
Butadiene Styrene
vibration C=C
of the stretching
0.2 vibration
aliphatic Nitrile (N-triple bond-O) Butadiene
Styrene
group
0.1

0
3875 3375 2875 2375 1875 1375 875 375

-0.1
Wavelength (cm-1)
 FTIR-ATR ABS (UV)

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

0.7
UV_WK0_ABS1_01
UV_WK1_ABS1_01
0.6
UV_WK2_ABS1_02
UV_WK3_ABS1_03

0.5 UV_WK4_ABS1_04

0.4
Absorbance

0.3

0.2

0.1

0
3875 3375 2875 2375 1875 1375 875 375

-0.1
Wavelength (cm-1)
 FTIR-ATR ABS (UV)

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene

0.7

UV_WK0_ABS1_01

0.6 UV_WK4_ABS1_04

0.5 Carbonyl
Peak
0.4
growth
Absorbance

(oxidation)

0.3
Hydroxyl/OH
(oxidation)
0.2

0.1

0
3875 3375 2875 2375 1875 1375 875 375
Wavelength (cm-1)

Oxidation Formation of photoproducts Chain-scission/Crosslinking

 In Summary

ABS + UV
One material-type; one experiment
Overall Objectives:
Place these results within the context of
the other 3D print materials
Make recommendations regarding:
Relative stability of 3D print plastics
Materials ideal for use in conjunction with
cultural heritage objects
 Acknowledgements

Supervisors
Petronella Nel
Nicole Tse
Andrea OConnor (Chemical Engineering)
Deb Lau (CSIRO)
GCCMC Staff + PhD Cohort
Folks over at CCS
 Copyright The University of Melbourne 2011