3D‐printed polymer packing structures: Uniformity of morphology and mechanical properties via microprocessing conditions

Abstract

Three‐dimensional (3D) printing is an attractive approach to fabricate highly porous extremely lightweight structures for architecture antivibrational packaging. We report 3D printing processing of model packaging structures using biodegradable poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a source material, with acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) utilized as a common 3D printing source material as a traditional benchmarked material. The effects of printing temperature, speed, and layer morphology on the layer‐by‐layer 3D‐printed structures and their mechanical properties were considered. Three different characteristic morphologies were identified based on printing temperature; the microscopic surface roughness was dependent on the printing speed and layer height. We demonstrate that the mechanical performances and surface properties of 3D‐printed PLA structures could be improved by optimization of printing conditions. Specifically, we evaluate that these PLA‐based 3D structures printed exhibited better surface qualities and enhanced mechanical performance than traditional ABS‐based structures. Results showed that the PLA‐based 3D structures possessed the favorable mechanical performance with 34% higher Young's modulus and 23% higher tensile strength in comparison to the ABS‐based 3D structures. This study provides guidelines for achieving high‐quality 3D‐printed lightweight structures, including smooth surfaces and durable mechanical properties, and serves as a framework to create biodegradable 3D‐printed parts for human use.

FDM 3D Printing and Properties of PBAT/PLA Blends

“…Fused deposition modeling (FDM), also known as fused filament fabrication (FFF), is one of the most rapidly growing additive manufacturing(AM) technologies [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]. The FDM printed products can be used in many areas, such as packaging supplies, automotive engineering, aeronautics, photocatalysis, bioengineering structures for tissue regeneration, dental implants, biomedical devices, and drug delivery [ 1 , 5 , 6 ].…”

“…In recent years, rising environmental awareness has made biodegradable polymers more attractive to scientific and industrial communities. As one of the two biopolymers that were expected to grow the most remarkably [ 7 ], PLA has become one of the routine feedstocks for FDM 3D printing; it is 100% obtained from renewable resources (corn, potatoes, tapioca roots, sugar cane, beets, maize, or rice); meanwhile, it has many advantages, such as adaptability to lower printing temperature, thermal stability, biodegradability, low thermal expansion coefficient, low elongation at break, slight shrinkage during processing, good adhesion to the platform, good dimensional stability of the printed specimens, ability to be carried out fast without any additional chemicals or biologically toxic materials, and it is mechanically robust [ 1 , 8 ]. Even so, its inherent drawbacks of high hardness, brittleness, poor melt strength, and no resistance to high temperatures should not be ignored; all these defects were unfavorable for its broader adoption in the 3D printing area.…”

Surface texture and thermo-mechanical properties of material extruded and ironed polylactic acid

“…As the mechanical properties of PLA pertains to additive manufacturing; several factors during production can influence the processing-structure properties of the 3D printed parts. Moreover, the mechanical properties of 3D printed PLA have been extensively studied [21][22][23][24]. Beyond the mechanical properties, the viscoelasticity of 3D printed PLA and ABS have been studied as nanocomposites [17,25].…”

The Structural Design of 3D Printed Bottle Prototype using a PLA Based Eco-friendly Polymer Packaging Material

“…In industrial scale, there are many additives can be migrated from bulk polymer layer in addition to polymer chains [15]. In 3D printing, the migration is mainly related to polymer staff [16]. Healthy impact can be supported the application of biodegradable polymers as packaging materials with novel ergonomic design with attractive easily application [17].…”