Effects of printing parameters on hardness and wear characteristics of 3D printed polyetheretherketone (PEEK) polymer

Abstract

The present work focuses on the fabrication of polyetheretherketone (PEEK) specimens through fused deposition modeling technique and investigating the hardness and wear behavior of the specimens. Four unique specimens were fabricated at different combinations of layer thickness and printing speed. The microhardness evaluation was done using Vicker’s microhardness tester and wear behavior was analyzed through the pin-on-disc method. The wear test was performed under 20 N, 40 N, and 60 N load conditions while maintaining the rest of the parameters constant.This study examined how process parameters affected mechanical properties. Of the four distinct specimens, specimen 3, having a layer thickness of 0.15 mm and printing speed of 20 mm/s, showed a better average hardness value of about 26.3 HV and a low wear rate and wear loss of about 0.17 x 10-9 mm3/Nm and 0.0016 g with a frictional force of 23 N and coefficient of friction of 0.34. These results suggest that the test specimen produced using the parameter comprising a printing speed of 20 mm/s and a layer thickness of 0.15 mm displayed better wear and hardness properties when compared to the other test specimens.