Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling

Borbás, Bence; Kohod, Zsófia; Kállai-Szabó, Nikolett; Basa, Bálint; Lengyel, Miléna; Zelkó, Romána; Antal, István

doi:10.3390/polym17131795

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Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling

by

Bence Borbás

^1,†,

Zsófia Kohod

^1,†,

Nikolett Kállai-Szabó

^1,2

,

Bálint Basa

¹

,

Miléna Lengyel

¹

,

Romána Zelkó

^2,3

and

István Antal

^1,2,*

¹

Department of Pharmaceutics, Semmelweis University, Hőgyes Endre Street 7-9, 1092 Budapest, Hungary

²

Centre for Pharmacology and Drug Research & Development, Semmelweis University, Üllői út 26, 1085 Budapest, Hungary

³

University Pharmacy Department of Pharmacy Administration, Semmelweis University, Hőgyes Endre Street 7-9, 1092 Budapest, Hungary

^*

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

^†

These authors contributed to the work equally and should be regarded as co-first authors.

Polymers 2025, 17(13), 1795; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17131795 (registering DOI)

Submission received: 29 May 2025 / Revised: 18 June 2025 / Accepted: 20 June 2025 / Published: 27 June 2025

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Applications of 3D Printing for Polymers, 3rd Edition)

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Abstract

This study investigates the applicability and advantages of using additive manufacturing to moderate heat generation in dry milling. Grinding medium balls of different sizes were designed and fabricated using computer-aided design (CAD) and a stereolithographic 3D printer. Milling processes with particle size distribution and warmup measurements were employed with the printed medium balls. The results were compared with the measurements executed with conventional stainless-steel balls. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was employed to evaluate the effect of the warmup of the system during the milling process. A two-variable, three-level experimental design was used for the measurements. We selected two grinding parameters considered critical: speed and time. The effect of these two independent variables on heating was examined. The results show that if printed balls are applied with the same total mass as that of metal balls, the particle size reduction is increased. The greater the number of balls used, the greater the particle size reduction. In this process, where additively manufactured milling bodies were used, the temperature of the system increased by less than when stainless-steel balls were used. The use of 3D-printed medium balls demonstrated beneficial warmup behavior.

Keywords: particle size; dry media milling; milling ball; warmup; additive manufacturing; differential scanning calorimetry (DSC)

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MDPI and ACS Style

Borbás, B.; Kohod, Z.; Kállai-Szabó, N.; Basa, B.; Lengyel, M.; Zelkó, R.; Antal, I. Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling. Polymers 2025, 17, 1795. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17131795

AMA Style

Borbás B, Kohod Z, Kállai-Szabó N, Basa B, Lengyel M, Zelkó R, Antal I. Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling. Polymers. 2025; 17(13):1795. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17131795

Chicago/Turabian Style

Borbás, Bence, Zsófia Kohod, Nikolett Kállai-Szabó, Bálint Basa, Miléna Lengyel, Romána Zelkó, and István Antal. 2025. "Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling" Polymers 17, no. 13: 1795. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17131795

APA Style

Borbás, B., Kohod, Z., Kállai-Szabó, N., Basa, B., Lengyel, M., Zelkó, R., & Antal, I. (2025). Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling. Polymers, 17(13), 1795. https://doi.org/10.3390/polym17131795

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Evaluation of 3D-Printed Balls with Photopolymer Resin as Grinding Medium Used to Alternatively Reduce Warmup During Dry Milling

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