Parameters Affecting the Mechanical Properties of Three-Dimensional (3D) Printed Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polylactide Composites

Abstract

Three-dimensional (3D) printing is a manufacturing technology which creates three-dimensional objects layer-by-layer or drop-by-drop with minimal material waste. Despite the fact that 3D printing is a versatile and adaptable process and has advantages in establishing complex and net-shaped structures over conventional manufacturing methods, the challenge remains in identifying the optimal parameters for the 3D printing process. This study investigated the influence of processing parameters on the mechanical properties of Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM)-printed carbon fiber-filled polylactide (CFR-PLA) composites by employing an orthogonal array model. After printing, the tensile and impact strengths of the printed composites were measured, and the effects of different parameters on these strengths were examined. The experimental results indicate that 3D-printed CFR-PLA showed a rougher surface morphology than virgin PLA. For the variables selected in this analysis, bed temperature was identified as the most influential parameter on the tensile strength of CFR-PLA-printed parts, while bed temperature and print orientation were the key parameters affecting the impact strengths of printed composites. The 45° orientation printed parts also showed superior mechanical strengths than the 90° printed parts.

The influence of fused filament fabrication printing parameters on the mechanical properties of a thermoplastic elastomer

“…Thus, when a wide range of PSs are considered, a quadratic effect on strength and stiffness properties with PS may be expected, exhibiting an optimal speed where layers are held above T g longer and defects are not induced by high speed. The quadratic relationship with PS has been observed in some work with PLA carbon fiber composite, finding tensile strength was optimal at 55 mm/s and decreased when printed faster or slower (Lee and Wu, 2020). In this work, significant PS effects were quadratic, suggesting an optimal PS depending on the mechanical property being maximized.…”

“…It has been hypothesized that increased PSs would result in less time for previously printed layers to cool before being reheated by the following molten layer, and the ability to influence cooling time has significant effect on mechanical properties (Bellehumeur et al , 2004). This has been expected to hold the temperature above the glass transition temperature longer, allowing for entanglement of polymer chains and increasing stiffness and strength (Lee and Wu, 2020). This effect has been observed in some work with ABS (Patibandla and Mian, 2020) and PLA (Kuznetsov et al , 2020).…”

“…Similarly in ABS, higher extrusion temperatures predicted increased tensile modulus (Attolico et al , 2020; Patibandla and Mian, 2020), yield strength (Patibandla and Mian, 2020) and tensile strength (Abbott et al , 2018; Attolico et al , 2020). In printed PLA carbon fiber composites, it was observed that the lowest printing temperatures (220–240°C) had caused the highest tensile strength, despite the expectation that higher temperatures would increase chain entanglement and strength (Lee and Wu, 2020). It was suggested that higher temperatures were causing material degradation and reducing the strength.…”

Integration of thermal imaging and neural networks for mechanical strength analysis and fracture prediction in 3D-printed plastic parts

“…Therefore, the geometrical arrangement of the structural material within one layer and the orientation of the layers of the material relative to the direction of the mechanical load are important parameters for controlling the strength of the final products, along with the type of thermoplastic polymer 37 . In addition, the strength of FDM parts is significantly influenced by the geometry and degree of internal filling of the part, bed temperature, and printing temperature influencing the fusion of the polymer layers 38 – 40 .…”

A Novel Production Method of Polymer Bolts and the Effects of the Printing Orientation on Tensile and Shear Strength of the 3D Printed Bolts

“…Moreover the fatigue behaviors of the 3D printed samples are discussed in the study. Lee et al [5] investigated the effects of processing parameters on the mechanical properties of fused deposition modelling (FDM)-printed carbon fiber-filled polylactide (CFR-PLA) composites by employing an orthogonal array model. The tensile and impact strengths of the composites are evaluated.…”