The use of low pressure plasma surface modification for bonded joints to assembly a robotic gripper designed to be additive manufactured

The paper explores how different surface preparations modify the mechanical performance of bonded joints on components made in acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) processed by fused filament fabrication (FFF) additive manufacturing. Two alternative treatments are considered: surface abrasion compliant to the standard ASTM D2093-03 (17) and using low pressure plasma, an innovative solution. The assessment is performed on standard lap shear test specimens and structural epoxy adhesive. The bonding layer with abraded surfaces shows adhesive failure while after the low-pressure plasma treatment shows adherends failure. As case of study the bonding solution to perform the assembly is considered a jaw finger of a robotic gripper for the picking of garments from a table. The redesign of the finger availing of the performance of bonding with the new plasma treatment is proposed and discussed. Experimental testing assessed the feasibility of this innovative technical solution.