Strength and Hardness of 3D Printed Poly Lactic Acid and Carbon Fiber Poly Lactic Acid Thermoplastics

The two different thermoplastic materials such as poly lactic acid (PLA) and carbon fiber poly lactic acid (CF-PLA) are selected for printed specimen preparation by the fused deposition modeling (FDM) technique. The FDM technique is also named as 3D printing technique. The experimental investigation is made to get the said materials specimen tensile and flexural strength and hardness properties to make a comparison between the two chosen printing materials with respect to the change in working limits of process parameters. The literature and trial experiments are performed to propose various and most effective process parameters of 3D printing technique like fill density (60, 80 and 100%), print speed (0.06, 0.08 and 0.1 m/s) and layer thickness (0.1, 0.2 and 0.3 microns). The influence of these process parameters is understood by analyzing the obtained testing results. The fill density and print speed are most accountable for getting maximum hardness, flexural and tensile strength of 3D printed PLA and carbon fiber material specimen. The most suitable material among CF-PLA, and PLA can be assessed and the working range of 3D printing process parameters can be assumed through this experimental investigation.