Effect of Printing Parameters on the Mechanical Properties of Parts Fabricated with Open-Source 3D Printers in PLA by Fused Deposition Modeling

Abstract

Abstract 3D polymer-based printers have become easily accessible to the public. Usually, the technology used by these 3D printers is Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM). The majority of these 3D printers mainly use acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) and polylactic acid (PLA) to fabricate 3D objects. In order for the printed parts to be useful for specific applications, the mechanical properties of the printed parts must be known. The aim of this study is to determine the tensile strength and elastic modulus of printed materials in polylactic acid (PLA) according to three important printing parameters such as deposition angle, extruder temperature and printing speed. The central composite design (CCD) was used to reduce the number of tensile test experiments. The obtained results show that the mechanical properties of printed parts depend on printing parameters. Empirical models relating response and process parameters are developed. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the validity of models relating response and printing parameters. The optimal printing parameters are determined for the desired mechanical properties.