This article reports the experimental investigations for tensile, compressive and morphological properties of 3D printed functional prototypes composed of polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced with poly ether ketone ketone (PEKK), hydroxyapatite (HAp) and chitosan (CS). The PLA-PEKK-HAp-CS composite has wide applications as scaffolds in orthopaedics and clinical dentistry. The tensile and compressive specimens were printed (as per ASTM D638 type IV and ASTM D695) with in-house prepared feedstock filament on commercial fused deposition modelling setup by following Taguchi-based design of experiment. The results are also supported by hardness data and photomicrographs.
In this experimental study, a composite of poly-ether-ketone-ketone by reinforcement of hydroxyapatite and chitosan has been prepared for possible applications as orthopaedic scaffolds. Initially, different weight percentages of hydroxyapatite and chitosan were reinforced in the poly-ether-ketone-ketone matrix and tested for melt flow index in order to check the flowability of different compositions/proportions. Suitable compositions revealed by the melt flow index test were then taken forward for the extrusion of filament required for fused deposition modelling. For thermomechanical investigations, Taguchi-based design of experiments has been used with input variables in the extrusion process as follows: temperature, load applied and different composition/proportions. The specimens in the form of feedstock filament produced by the extrusion process were made to undergo tensile testing. The specimens were also inspected by differential scanning calorimetry and photomicrographs. Finally, the specimen showing the best performance from the thermomechanical viewpoint has been selected to extrude the filament for the fused deposition modelling process.
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