Effect of shells number and machining on selected properties of 3D-printed PLA samples

Abstract

Effect of shells number (1–5) on tensile properties of PLA samples printed using the FDM/FFF technique was investigated. The crack surface was also analyzed. The best properties were obtained for 4-shell sample. However, due to the large coefficient of variation (>> 10%) in the case of elongation, 3-shell sample was selected for testing the machining impact. Such a large coefficient of variation can be explained by the presence of voids between the layers. The greater the number of layers, the greater the structure defects. Machining increases surface smoothness while reducing tensile strength and practically unchanged elongation at break.