ABS Snap Together Monomer

Background & Chemistry

ABS is a terpolymer composed of the three diferent monomers: Acrylonitrile, Butadiene and Styrene. The resulting polymer gets it’s stiffness from the Acylonitrile and Styrene, and it’s toughness from Butadiene. The ratio of these three components can be varied to tune the mechanical properties of the polymer.

3D Model

This model is a stylized representation of how the three ABS monomers is typically drawn on a flat sheet of paper. It is also possible to make Polystyrene (PS) and Polybutadiene (BR-Butadiene Rubber) by linking one type of monomer. It is worth noting that Polybutadiene rubber is typically vulcanized which creates crosslinks between the linear polymer chains, which cannot be represented with this model. It is also possible to make Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) as well, but this polymer is not typicall used on its own. The common copolymers Styrene Acrylonitrile (SAN) and Syrene Butadiene Rubber (SBR) by combining the two respective monomers.

3D Printing and settings

This model is designed to be printed without supports. The text is designed to be printed with a 0.4mm nozzle. Any number of walls and infill % should work, but if you intend to chain a large number of monomers together adding additions wall will help keep them from flexing.