Experimental Investigation on Single Channel Forming of PLA/Stainless Steel Composite based on Fused Deposition Modeling

Abstract

Polylactic acid (PLA) has good biocompatibility and biodegradability, which is widely used in fused deposition modeling (FDM) technology. But its disadvantages are also very prominent, such as low strength, and high brittleness. Stainless steel material has high mechanical properties and good biocompatibility, so PLA/stainless steel composite material has the advantages of both materials. In this paper, the effects of FDM forming parameters, such as nozzle temperature, extrusion speed, printing speed, nozzle height from the substrate, layer thickness and nozzle diameter, on the single-channel direct writing forming quality were studied from the angle of line height and line width of PLA/stainless steel composites. The results show that selecting appropriate FDM process parameters can effectively improve the quality of single-channel molding, and the printed lines have certain shrinkage. The ratio of line height to line width exceeds 100%. It provides a theoretical reference for the subsequent forming of PLA/stainless steel composite parts based on FDM.