Mechanical and Morphological Characterizations of Laminated Object Manufactured 3D Printed Biodegradable Poly(lactic)acid with Various Physical Configurations

Abstract

Mechanical behavior of 3D-printed poly(lactic) acid material is an open topic for research on the reliability assessment of structures in marine and offshore industries. This article presents the mechanical and morphological properties of poly(lactic) acid specimens using the laminated object manufacturing technique. The effect was experimentally investigated on 3D-printed discs joined together to make a laminated test specimen. The specimen was prepared and tested under different infill patterns, viz. linear, triangular, and honeycomb structure, 50–90% infill density, and under varying disc thickness ranging from 3.4–5.6 mm. The maximum compressive strength of 42.47 MPa was attained for the laminated specimen with 70% infill, honeycomb pattern, and disc thickness of 3.4 mm (six discs), whereas the linear infill pattern has shown the least compressive performance of 22.40 MPa. The result of the study suggested that the honeycomb infill pattern with 90% infill density and six discs provides the optimum set of parameters for the 3D printing of PLA samples for maximization of compressive strength, especially for laminated object manufactured specimens. The Taguchi L9 orthogonal analysis (OA) suggested a significant influence on the infill pattern and the number of discs, contributing 51.60% and 48.29%, respectively, towards the compressive strength. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and toolmaker microscopic images have supported the observed experimental mechanical results for the laminated object manufactured specimens. The used technique of laminated object-manufactured components in the current study may have effective usage in marine and structural engineering fields.

Keywords

• laminated object manufacturing
• poly(lactic)acid
• compressive strength
• surface roughness
• Taguchi analysis
• 3D printing in marine application