Tensile and Flexural Performance of Hybrid FDM and Compression Moulded PLA/Basalt Biocomposite

Emerging trends in extrusion-based additive manufacturing (AM) focus on improving the mechanical performance of pristine polymers with high strength reinforcing materials. Prominent reviews have indicated a heavy dependence on PLA polymer for fused deposition Modeling (FDM) based studies. To promote biodegradability, the effect of natural fibres as reinforcement has been widely researched in the literature. However, it is noted that discontinuous natural fibre reinforcement yields negative or negligible improvement in the strength and modulus of FDM-based biocomposites. Hence, an attempt to hybridise FDM with a conventional composite manufacturing method was made in this study by cladding natural fibre reinforcement over FDM-based polymer. Tensile and flexural test coupons were additively manufactured by FDM and reinforced with a skin of bi-directional woven basalt fibre through compression moulding. A 90% improvement in tensile strength and a similar significant increase in flexural strength was observed. Further, an average increment of 46.38% and 237.24% in tensile and flexural modulus, respectively, was achieved through this manufacturing technique. In conclusion, a drastic improvement in mechanical performance can be obtained through the hybridisation of manufacturing methods and needs further investigation towards the compatibility of adhesive materials with FDM polymers.