Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) is capable of producing complicated geometries and a variety of thermoplastic or composite products. Thus, it is critical to carry out the relationship between the process parameters, the finished part’s quality, and the part’s mechanical performance. In this study, the optimum printing parameters of FDM using oil palm fiber reinforced thermoplastic composites were investigated. The layer thickness, orientation, infill density, and printing speed were selected as optimization parameters. The mechanical properties of printed specimens were examined using tensile and flexural tests. The experiments were designed using a Taguchi experimental design using a L9 orthogonal array with four factors, and three levels. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine the significant parameter or factor that influences the responses, including tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and flexural strength. The fractured surface of printed parts was investigate using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results show the tensile strength of the printed specimens ranged from 0.95 to 35.38 MPa, the Young’s modulus from 0.11 to 1.88 GPa, and the flexural strength from 2.50 to 31.98 MPa. In addition, build orientation had the largest influence on tensile strength, Young’s modulus, and flexural strength. The optimum printing parameter for FDM using oil palm fiber composite was 0.4 mm layer thickness, flat (0 degree) of orientation, 50% infill density, and 10 mm/s printing speed. The results of SEM images demonstrate that the number of voids seems to be much bigger when the layer thickness is increased, and the flat orientation has a considerable influence on the bead structure becoming tougher. In a nutshell, these findings will be a valuable 3D printing dataset for other researchers who utilize this material.

Natural fibre as a reinforcing agent has been widely used in many industries in this era. However, the reinforcing agent devotes a better strength when embedded with a polymer matrix. Nevertheless, the characteristic of natural fibre and polymer matrix are in contrast, as natural fibre is hydrophilic, while polymer is hydrophobic in nature. Natural fibre is highly hydrophilic due to the presence of a hydroxyl group (-OH), while polymer matrix has an inherent hydrophobic characteristic which repels water. This issue has been fixed by modifying the natural fibre’s surface using a chemical treatment combining an alkaline treatment and a silane coupling agent. This modifying process of natural fibre might reduce the attraction of water and moisture content and increase natural fibre surface roughness, which improves the interfacial bonding between these two phases. In this paper, the effect of alkaline and silane treatment has been proven by performing the mechanical test, Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM), and Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometry (FTIR) to observe the surface structure. The chemical compositions and thermal properties of the composites have been obtained by performing Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) and Thermogravimetric Analysis (TGA) tests. 1.0% silane treatment displayed better strength performance as compared to other composites, which was proven by performing Scanning Electron Micrograph (SEM). The assumption is that by enduring chemical treatment, kenaf fibre composites could develop high performance in industry applications.

Numerous situations in daily life necessitate a decision. Several of them entail selecting the best option from a number of available options. In many such cases, no single solution is optimal for all of the performance characteristics. This study proposes using grey relational analysis (GRA), a multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) method, to solve this problem. Material selection is vital in designing and developing products, especially for composites materials requiring special attention. The substitution of conventional materials with natural fibres as base material is commonly practised due to high material consumption in mass-producing plastic components that could harm the environment. Therefore, in this work, natural fibres were chosen as composite reinforcement in the design of cyclist helmets. This approach was used to evaluate the right natural fibre and is able to fulfill the needs of consumers and the environment. From the results, the GRA method was utilised and revealed that pineapple was the best top ranking natural fibre with a grade of 0.5687, followed closely by bamboo with a grade of 0.5678, and abaca with a grade of 0.4966. Error analysis was performed to increase the confidence level of the results obtained.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the tensile strength, Young’s modulus, dimensional stability and porosity of acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)–oil palm fiber composite filament for fused deposition modeling (FDM). Design/methodology/approach A new feedstock material for FDM comprising oil palm fiber and ABS as a matrix was developed by a twin screw extruder. The composite filament contains 0, 3, 5 and 7 Wt.% of oil palm fiber in the ABS matrix. The tensile test is then performed on the fiber composite filament, and the wire diameter is measured. In this study, the Archimedes method was used to determine the density and the porosity of the filament. The outer surface of the wire composite was examined using an optical microscope, and the analysis of variance was used to assess the significance and the relative relevance of the primary factor. Findings The results showed that increasing the fiber loading from 0.15 to 0.4 MPa enhanced tensile strength by 60%. Then, from 16.1 to 18.3 MPa, the Young’s modulus rose by 22.8%. The density of extruded filament decreased and the percentage of porosity increased when the fiber loading was increased from 3 to 7 Wt.%. The diameter deviation of the extruded filaments varied from −0.21 to 0.04 mm. Originality/value This paper highlights a novel natural resource-based feedstock material for FDM. Its mechanical and physical properties were also discovered.

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Fused deposition modelling (FDM) is a filament-based rapid prototyping technology that allows new composite materials to be introduced into the FDM process as long as they can be manufactured in feedstock filament form. The purpose of this research was to analyze the rheological behavior of oil palm fiber-reinforced acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) composites when used as a feedstock material, as well as to determine the best processing conditions for FDM. The composite’s shear thinning behavior was observed, and scanning electron microscopy was used to reveal its composition. The morphological result found that there was a good fiber/matrix adhesion with a 3 wt% fiber loading, as no fiber pullouts or gaps developed between the oil palm fiber and ABS. However, some pores and fiber pullouts were found with a 5 and 7 wt% fiber loading. Next, the rheological results showed that the increment of fiber content (wt%) increased the viscosity. This discovery can definitely be used in the extrusion process for making wire filament for FDM. The shear thinning effect was increased by adding 3, 5, or 7 wt% of oil palm fiber. The non-Newtonian index (n) of the composites increased as the number of shear rates increased, indicating that the fiber loading had a significant impact on the rheological behavior. As the fiber loading increased, the viscosity and shear stress values increased as well. As a result, oil fiber reinforced polymer composites can be used as a feedstock filament for FDM.

Employment of natural fiber for the filament of fused deposition modeling (FDM) can be found in numerous studies from different areas. However, the presence of fiber such as kenaf in polymer filament could cause mechanical properties degradation with regard to the fiber loading owing to low compatibility between natural fiber and polymer matrix. Therefore, this study aims to study the mechanical properties of three-dimensional (3D)-printed structures of composites specimens with varying volume percentages of kenaf fiber. From the tensile and flexural testings, the findings revealed decrements in the tensile strength and modulus of kenaf fiber-reinforced ABS (KRABS) composites from 0 to 5% contents of kenaf fiber which were 23.20 to 11.48 MPa and 328.17 to 184.48 MPa, respectively. The raising amount of kenaf fiber at 5 to 10% raised the tensile strength and modulus from 11.48 to 18.59 MPa and 184.48 to 275.58 MPa, respectively. Flexural strength and modulus of KRABS composites were decreased at to 5% from 40.56 to 26.48 MPa and 113.05 to 60 MPa, respectively. With further kenaf fiber addition from 5 to 10%, the flexural strength and modulus were increased from 26.48 to 32.64 MPa and 60 to 88.46 MPa, respectively. These results were supported by the finding from the morphological analysis, where the presence of porosity and fiber pull out implied the poor interfacial bonding between kenaf fiber and ABS matrix. This study has successfully demonstrated the tensile and flexural performances of different volume percentages of KRABS composites filament for FDM through experimental research.

In the development and manufacturing industries, fused deposition modeling (FDM) receives the greatest attention. It is the most important additive manufacturing (AM) technique, which refers to the process of depositing multiple layers of material in a computer-controlled environment to form a three-dimensional product. Research is presently focusing on the development of 3D printed bio-composite polymers with improved performance. Many studies on the development of new composite materials using natural fiber as a feedstock filament for FDM have recently been published. As a result, conducting a rheology characteristics analysis of new composite materials made from natural resources is required. Its major purpose is to describe the flow behavior of the fiber composite material and determine the optimal melting temperature for the extrusion process of producing wire filament. Thus, this paper focuses on rheological properties of fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composite for FDM.