Analysis of Compressive Strength of 3D Printed PLA Part

Abstract

The 3D printing process makes the part layer by layer as per the CAD model. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) is one of the 3D printing processes in which a polymer material is used to produce a part in which heating chamber is provided to liquefy polymer material, which is fed to the machine as a filament. The parts produced by FDM process will be affected by a large number of process parameters like part build orientation, layer height, raster width, infill percentage, infill pattern, perimeters, etc. A more systemic understanding is required to study the effect of process parameters of the FDM in order to reduce building time, increase the mechanical strength and enhance the part quality. FDM can be used in the medical sector, which includes dental applications, prosthetics and bone fixation implants. The compressive strength played the fundamental role in these types of applications. In present work, an attempt has been made to understand the effects of processing parameters on compressive strength of FDM made parts. The experimental plan has been designed using full factorial method with part orientation, infill pattern and infill density. Analysis of variance has been performed on each of the mechanical response characteristics to identify the significant printing parameters that influence the same. It was observed that infill density along with the orientation significantly affects the compressive strength.