Influence of Infill Design in Fabrication of 3D-printed PLA Parts Using FDM

Abstract

The present work examines the mechanical characteristics of polylactic acid (PLA) samples manufactured in 3D printing using various infill patterns. The infill patterns investigated are cuboid, grid, and octet, prepared at a constant infill density of 50 %. The study aimed to identify the most suitable infill pattern for specific mechanical requirements, considering tensile, compression, and flexural behaviour. Experimental testing was conducted on the 3D-printed PLA specimens to assess their mechanical performance. The findings reveal that the octet infill pattern showed the highest mechanical qualities across all three tests, including tensile, flexural, and compression evaluations, indicating improved strength and stability. The octet infill pattern samples had the highest tensile value of 17.3 MPa, maximum flexural stress of 35 MPa, and maximum compression stress of 34.4 MPa. These results emphasize the need to choose suitable infill patterns to adjust the mechanical properties of 3D-printed PLA components to meet particular application requirements.

Keywords

• additive manufacturing
• fdm
• 3d-printing
• pla
• infill pattern
• infill density