Immersion polishing post-treatment of PLA 3D printed formed parts on its surface and mechanical performance

Abstract

Steps were taken to improve the surface and mechanical performance of PLA 3D printed formed parts, reduce the “step texture” produced by the fused deposition process, and improve the quality of 3D printing by means of post-treatment. The PLA 3D formed parts were immersion polished with chloroform solution to investigate the effects of immersion polishing on the surface roughness, surface gloss, mechanical properties, and other factors of PLA formed parts. The results of the pre-experiment showed that 90% of the effect was due to the optimal concentration value of chloroform solution and 10% was the optimization of time for immersion polishing. Under the pre-experimental conditions, the surface roughness of the formed parts was reduced by 87%, and the surface gloss was increased by 510%, the surface quality and gloss were significantly improved, and the “step texture” was significantly reduced; meanwhile, the tensile and compressive ultimate strength of the formed parts were increased by 9.41% and 13.09%, respectively, and the mechanical performance were improved, and the quality of 3D printing post-treatment was significantly improved.