Use of regression to study the effect of fabric parameters on the adhesion of 3D printed PLA polymer onto woven fabrics

Nonsikelelo Sheron Mpofu,Londiwe C. Nkiwane,David Njuguna,Josphat Igadwa Mwasiagi

doi:10.1186/s40691-019-0180-6

Nonsikelelo Sheron Mpofu, Londiwe C. Nkiwane + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s40691-019-0180-6

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Abstract

The use of the three-dimensional (3D) printing technique is gaining popularity due to its ability to produce products with minimum waste. 3D printing can be used to add polymers onto woven fabrics to produce novel structures. This research work concentrated on the study of the fabric properties affecting the adhesion of Polylactic Acid (PLA) polymer onto selected fabrics. Different fabrics made from cotton, polyester and acrylic, were selected and using 3D printing, PLA polymer was printed onto the fabric surface. Regression models were used to study the effect of selected fabric properties on the adhesion of PLA polymer onto the woven fabrics. The results obtained in this research work indicated that fabric areal density, warp count (Tex), weft count (Tex), fabric thickness and fabric handle indicated a positive correlation with adhesion of PLA onto woven fabrics. On the other hand, warp ends/inch and weft picks/inch showed a negative correlation with the adhesion of PLA polymer onto woven fabrics.

Highlights

One method of reducing costs during manufacturing is to decrease the amount of waste generated in the manufacturing process; a strategy exhibited by the three dimensional (3D) printing technique where polymers are deposited layer by layer to form objects (Gibson et al 2010; Canessa et al 2013)
The properties of the studied fabric samples The fifteen fabric samples were characterized in terms of fabric areal density, warp density, weft density, warp count (Tex), weft count (Tex), fibre type, and fabric thickness
Polylactic Acid (PLA) was deposited onto 15 woven fabric samples using 3D printing techniques

Summary

Introduction

One method of reducing costs during manufacturing is to decrease the amount of waste generated in the manufacturing process; a strategy exhibited by the 3D printing technique where polymers are deposited layer by layer to form objects (Gibson et al 2010; Canessa et al 2013). This method can be referred to as additive manufacturing. FDM is a common material extrusion process used on many low-cost domestic 3D printers. The quality of the final model is influenced by several factors which when controlled successfully can lead to the production of quality prints (Melnikova et al 2014; Christiyan et al 2016)

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