Characterization of polylactic acid/thermoplastic polyurethane composite filaments manufactured for additive manufacturing with fused deposition modeling

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) and thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) were mixed in different proportions and extruded through twin-screw and single-screw extruders to obtain composite filaments to be used for 3D printing with fused deposition modeling (FDM) method. The properties of the filaments were characterized using uniaxial tensile tests, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), rheology, polarized optical microscope (POM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). 3D printed samples from composite filaments were tested using dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). It was found that the tensile strength and modulus of the filaments decrease while elongation at break increases with the increasing TPU content in the composite. The analysis also showed a partial miscibility of the polymer constituents in the solution of composite filaments. Finally, a flexible structure, plain weave fabric, was designed and 3D printed using the composite filaments developed which proved that the filaments are well suited for 3D printing.

Characterization of electrospun fibers and electrospray vancomycin-containing beads through the interstitial or lamellar separation of bead composite fiber membranes to evaluate their biomedical application in vitro

“…The stretching vibration band at 1530 cm À1 was the bending vibration peak of N-H (amide II band), and bands at 1300-1000 cm À1 were the stretching vibration peak of C-O-C and C-N (amide III band). 23,[35][36][37][38][39] CV40 and DSV40 had similar characteristic spectra to TPU, and no new absorption was observed in each group. Additionally, the characteristic bands of Vanco and PVA were not observed in the composite membranes possibly owing to the similar functional groups in the absorption bands of Vanco, PVA, and TPU, as well as the extremely lower content of Vanco and PVA than that of TPU.…”

“…Accordingly, TPU is extensively used in biomedical fields, such as skin, artificial blood vessels, cartilage, ligaments, and bone scaffolds. [18][19][20][21][22][23] Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) is a typical water-soluble and biodegradable synthetic polymer with good mechanical strength, flexibility, and barrier properties. It is easy to process and is widely used in the food packaging, pharmaceutical, and biomedical fields.…”

An overview of additive manufacturing methods, materials, and applications for flexible structures

“…38,39 It has been extensively used in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, 40 electrochemical energy conversion and storage, 41 packaging and tissue engineering, 42 fabric and fashion industries. 14,43–45…”

“…38,39 It has been extensively used in pharmaceutical and biomedical applications, 40 electrochemical energy conversion and storage, 41 packaging and tissue engineering, 42 fabric and fashion industries. 14,[43][44][45] Poly(lactic) acid is manufactured by processing and polymerization of lactic acid monomers which exist in two optically active configurations: L (+) and D (À) isomers as shown in Figure 9. [46][47][48] The weight percentages of these isomers directly influences the crystallinity, mechanical properties and degradation characteristics of PLA.…”

Thermomechanical behavior of three dimensionally printed fabric structures

“…The yarns in the longitudinal direction (or machine direction) are known as warp yarns whereas the yarns in the transverse direction (or cross-machine direction) are known as weft or filling yarns. [8,20,42] In this study, a yarn of circular cross-section is considered. The diameter of each yarn is 1.70 mm, the spacing between yarns (warp and weft) is 8.0 mm and the thickness of fabric structure is 3.00 mm (Figure 5).…”