Mechanical and thermal characterization of additive manufactured fish scale powder reinforced PLA biocomposites

Abstract

This research work is aimed to convert fish scale wastes as an effective reinforcement in polylactic acid (PLA) as a new bio-composite filament for fused deposition-based 3D printing applications. Various concentrations of fish scale particles (0, 10, 20, and 30%) were used to make the filaments. The performance of the developed filaments was assessed by printing the filament into various test specimens to perform tensile, flexural, impact, hardness, and water absorption experiments as per the ASTM standards. The outcomes of the results show that the PLA/fish scale powder (20%) composite has performed well than the remaining composites. Furthermore, the adding 20% fish scale powder increased the tensile strength and flexural strength of the 3D printed PLA composite by 15% and 39.78% respectively. This is evident that the novel bio-composite exhibited better properties than the pure polymer making it a potential replacement as bone-grafting material and scaffolds for bio-engineering applications.

Development of fish scale particle reinforced PLA filaments for 3D printing applications

“…Subsequently, the resulting mixture of pellets was meticulously introduced into the hopper of the extruder, serving as the material feed for the filament extrusion process. 21,22 During the extrusion process, the extruder functioned at a specified screw revolution rate of 40 mm/s, ensuring an optimal and controlled material flow through the extrusion mechanism. Additionally, a processing temperature of 180 C was maintained throughout the process to facilitate the desired flow characteristics and to ensure proper fusion and bonding of the PLA granules and fish scale particles.…”