Effects of infill pattern and compression axis on the compressive strength of the 3D-printed cubic samples

Abstract

Structures that are very difficult to produce with classical manufacturing methods have become easily produced with the development of additive manufacturing (AM) technique. AM technique allows creating special infill patterns with gaps in the internal structures of the products to be produced. These special infill patterns ensure that the product has maximum rigidity and strength while also providing minimum mass. For this reason, it is important to investigate the effects of infill patterns produced by AM technique on the mechanical properties of the product. In this study, the compression characteristics of compression test samples produced in five different infill patterns (octet, grid, cubic, quarter cubic, gyroid) using the AM method were experimentally investigated in three different axes. Test samples were produced from PLA material with a 3-dimensional (3D) printer in accordance with the ASTM C365-16 standard. Compression tests were repeated three times at a compression speed of 0.5 mm/min, with five different infill patterns and three different axes for each parameter. According to the results obtained, the octet infill pattern provided the best compressive strength in all three axes. It has been determined that the infill pattern or load axis change greatly affects the compression performance of the product.