We started our process by obtaining from different companies different fabrics which are supposed to be 100% Nylon. in particular we obtained T-shirts and curtains.

The fabrics are then grinded with a particular machine capable of reducing the textile in fluffy nylon fibers with really low density and high content of air.

the obtained material is then dried in vacuum atmosphere for 24 hours.

The dried polymer is then extruded in filament with diameter 2/3 mm by using a Brabender single screw extruder which is able to be fed with the material in that particular form. 

The filament is then cut in small pellets (about 3/4 mm in length) and fed to an high performance additive manufacturing machine called EFeSTO. this machine is a prototype designed and built in Politecnico di Milano, which features an injection molding head, designed for Metal Injection Molding (MIM), with two chambers, one for plasticization of the polymers and the second for the extrusion of the viscous material. the material is pushed by pistons in the chambers driven by brushless motors (no extrusion screw). The building platform is moved by a delta kinematic which allows high stiffness and precision of deposition.

The machine is suited for this application since it is fed with pellets and do not require calibrated filament to perform additive manufacturing