RESEARCH ON THE TECHNOLOGY OF PREPARING PLASTIC AND THREADED COMPONENTS USING 3D PRINTING OR ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING

Threaded components play a crucial role in ensuring the safety and reliability of systems by joining components together. Proper selection of thread type and size, ensuring proper machining and storage of components, and addressing potential issues such as leakage, vibration, and misalignment all play a special role. It is known that there is a big difference in the nature of the destruction of metal and plastic threaded connections, in particular, when the nut is made of plastics, and the bolt is made of steel, or vice versa. In this regard, at present there is no consensus in assessing the strength of plastic threaded connections. On the one hand, it is recognized that, due to a more uniform distribution of the load, plastic threaded connections have a significant load capacity. Numerous examples of the use of plastic threaded connections in pressure pipelines, in large plastic parts subjected to dynamic loads, various loaded fasteners - all these examples confirm that plastic threaded connections can withstand very high loads. Production of a thread of plastic details is rather difficult, than on metals. It is connected with the physical-mechanical processes coming in the course of production of concrete thread details from plastic by method of pressing and casting under pressure. Also mechanics of formation of plastic threads on details of the oil-field equipment on the specific properties differ from the threads received by a machining method on metals. As thread surfaces on plastic details are formed in compression molds depending on materials and the modes: temperatures, pressure and time of production. These regime parameters and guided parameters play a part at a guaranty of physicalmechanical properties of details in the course of production. The use of plastic or polymer threads in the oil and gas industry is increasing due to their unique characteristics and advantages over traditional metal threads. Recently, 3D printing (additive manufacturing) has become more widely used for the preparation of plastic threads. The article will discuss the methods and characteristics of preparing plastic threaded components, as well as their advantages and certain incompatibilities. Keywords: threaded components, plastic threaded components, preparation methods, 3D and 4D printing.