Abstract
Additive manufacturing (AM) is a promising technology for the rapid tooling and fabrication of complex geometry components. Among all AM techniques, fused filament fabrication (FFF) is the most widely used technique for polymers. However, the consistency and properties control of the FFF product remains a challenging issue. This study aims to investigate physical changes during the 3D printing of polylactic acid (PLA). The correlations between the porosity, crystallinity and mechanical properties of the printed parts were studied. Moreover, the effects of the build-platform temperature were investigated. The experimental results confirmed the anisotropy of printed objects due to the occurrence of orientation phenomena during the filament deposition and the formation both of ordered and disordered crystalline forms (α and δ, respectively). A heat treatment post-3D printing was proposed as an effective method to improve mechanical properties by optimizing the crystallinity (transforming the δ form into the α one) and overcoming the anisotropy of the 3D printed object.
Highlights
Additive manufacturing (AM), called 3D printing, represents an emerging technique for building complex geometries and for rapid prototyping [1,2]
We examined the effect of the porosity and crystallinity of the printed parts
No significant differences can be recognized for the thin samples (Figure 7a)
Summary
Additive manufacturing (AM), called 3D printing, represents an emerging technique for building complex geometries and for rapid prototyping [1,2]. In the last 5 years, AM has rapidly evolved from the laboratory scale to the manufacturing of commercial parts [3]. Depending on the material and machine technology, there are several different processes to perform layer manufacturing. Among them, fused filament fabrication (FFF), selective laser sintering (SLS), stereolithography (SLA), laminated object manufacturing (LOM) and fused particle fabrication (FPF) are of relevant importance [1,2,3,4,5,6]. The FFF technique is the most used method for polymer-based modeling [7,8,9].
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
