The Effects of Different Process Parameters of PLA+ on Tensile Strengths in 3D Printer Produced by Fused Deposition Modeling

Abstract

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is a three-dimensional (3D) printing technique in which parts are produced with thermoplastic polymer layers in a highly controlled manner. However, the production of ready-made parts using FDM is quite tricky. At the same time, the mechanical properties of parts printed with current print parameters and low-cost 3D printers also vary. The quality and mechanical characteristics of the final part are influenced by production parameters such as the extrusion temperature, infill density, infill pattern, print speed, and layer height. This study focused on the effects of the infill pattern, infill density and print speed parameters on the tensile strength and production time of model structures printed with PLA+ material. The tensile strength of the printed parts have been determined by a WDM-100E model tensile testing machine. In addition, the tensile strengths and production times of the parts have been optimized by the signal-to-noise (SN) ratio analysis. The results reveal that triangle infill pattern exhibits the best tensile strength at 40 mm/sec printing speed and 100% infill density. On the other hand, the lowest production time is observed in the gyroid infill pattern.