Mechanical characteristics and failure morphology of FFF-printed poly lactic acid composites reinforced with carbon fibre, graphene and MWCNTs

Abstract

Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is the most prevalent additive manufacturing technique, which involves extruding a softened thermoplastic filament through the nozzle of a heated extruder. For improving the mechanical properties of the FFF-printed PLA parts one of the options is to add reinforcing material, such as carbonaceous materials or metal particles. The present study deals with analysing and comparing mechanical properties of carbon fibre reinforced poly lactic acid (CF-PLA), graphene reinforced PLA (Gr-PLA) and multi walled carbon nano tubes reinforced PLA (MWCNTs-PLA) composites by FFF. The selected process parameters used in this study are raster angle (0°, 45°, 90°), feed rate (20 mm/s, 40 mm/s, 60 mm/s) and layer height (0.1 mm, 0.15 mm, 0.2 mm) and based on different combinations, elongation at break, modulus and tensile strength are examined. MWCNTs-PLA exhibits overall maximum tensile strength, 37.438 MPa with 15.384% elongation at break for layer height 0.1 mm, raster angle 0° and feed rate 20 mm/s as compared to other selected specimens. Fractography analysis is also done to better understand the failure modes of specimens. To examine the dependency of the tensile strength on the process parameters, ANOVA, Taguchi’s L9 array Design of Experiment (DOE) is utilized indicating that layer height has the highest contribution of 56.713% for Gr-PLA, but raster angle has the highest contribution of 54.899% and 76.16% for CF-PLA and MWCNTs-PLA, respectively. This work will help in better understanding of how different parameters effects the material properties for PLA composites.

Reinforcement‐material effects on the compression behavior of polymer composites

“…Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), 8–10 polylactic acid (PLA), 6,11–17 thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), 8,18 polyethylene terephthalate (PET), 8,19 glycol modified polyethylene terephthalate (PETG), 12,15,19–21 high‐density polyethylene 22 and many more are among the most frequent polymers generated through AM 2,23–25 . Each of these polymers is useful for a variety of purposes due to its unique combination of mechanical strength, thermal qualities, and other characteristics 21,26–28 . Evaluating the qualities of PETG and PLA composite on varying nozzle diameter and infill pattern is the focus of this experimental research.…”

“…In comparison to other AM technologies, FFF is the popular material extrusion process for fabricating polymer and their composites owing to its adaptability, fast fabrication speed, lower cost, higher mechanical properties, lack of toxicity, and wide range of possible materials 3,16,33 . The solid objects are often made using FFF technology, which a spool of filament made from a thermoplastic substance 13,18,23,26,34 . The thermoplastic materials are melted in a hot liquefier before being extruded through a nozzle to form the different shapes.…”

“…3,16,33 The solid objects are often made using FFF technology, which a spool of filament made from a thermoplastic substance. 13,18,23,26,34 The thermoplastic materials are melted in a hot liquefier before being extruded through a nozzle to form the different shapes. In order to extrude, thermoplastic filaments must be in a semi-solid state.…”

“…2,[23][24][25] Each of these polymers is useful for a variety of purposes due to its unique combination of mechanical strength, thermal qualities, and other characteristics. 21,[26][27][28] Evaluating the qualities of PETG and PLA composite on varying nozzle diameter and infill pattern is the focus of this experimental research. The incorporation of fibers and nanoparticles in polymer matrices is a particularly noteworthy development in AM of polymers.…”

Augmenting the flexural strength of polymer composites for stronger and more durable prosthetic sockets

“…15 Although they combine the greatest qualities of each distinct component, hybrids function better than their individual elements and have the potential to make prostheses for amputees. 16 To increase its structural, conductive, and thermal properties, polymers can be reinforced with substances like continuous-flax, 17 Basalt fiber, 18 SWCNTs, MWCNTs, [19][20][21] and CF. [22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] Carboncontaining reinforcing polymer nano-composites have a significant positive impact on the physical and mechanical characteristics of specimens.…”