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did not have any impact or made any difference to the end part as it was still<br />

rubber like.<br />

5) Silicones, grinding powder, epoxy and epofix hardener – A combination of the<br />

materials tried above are chosen and put together with the base material,<br />

silicone.<br />

Inference – The mixture became hard quite quick and so it became a hard<br />

lump with no fluid properties required for the syringe. It was not possible to<br />

make a part through deposition and test it in this case.<br />

6) Gypsum plaster and epoxy – A combination of plaster and epoxy are mixed<br />

together to be tried with the test bed.<br />

Inference – This combination gave good results on curing and it could be<br />

used to make small models and parts. However, these parts are not that hard<br />

for strength testing purposes.<br />

7) Gypsum plaster, epoxy and epoxy hardener – Epoxy hardener was chosen to<br />

add to the above combination to check if epoxy hardener can improve the<br />

hardness properties we desire.<br />

Inference – Similar to the previous model, this model proved good for making<br />

small, temporary models but they were found to be too brittle and hence not fit<br />

for any mechanical testing.<br />

From the detailed experiments shown above, it is found that silicone stays the same<br />

even when mixed with a number of materials and it does not lose its property. Any<br />

material when mixed with silicone will always end up retaining the properties of<br />

silicone and the resultant material is a rubber like, flexible material which is not<br />

desired for making parts or as an alternative to ABS plastic. Some materials when<br />

being mixed had very less curing time and so they lost the fluid property of a material<br />

required when being used in the machine and so they became quiet hard rubber like<br />

material. This is not good for any material expected to flow out from a small tip of a<br />

nozzle without any presence of external heat source, similar to what exists in the<br />

76

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