Increasing the Tensile Strength of 3d printed Poly lactic Acid (PLA) Using Design of Experiments (DOE)

Abstract

A Cheng, C Burke and Rafiqul Noorani

Experimental design has been used to determine outlying factors that affect tensile strength of fused deposition modelling 3D printed PLA parts. A two level, three factor full factorial experiments were utilized to determine the best combination of factors that yielded the highest tensile strength of PLA tensile dog bones manufactured in accordance with ASTM D638-14. PLA is particularly desirable due to its environmental friendliness, biodegradability, low cost, and low melting point, allowing it to be built on a non-heated platform without risk of toxic fumes. Increasing the tensile strength of PLA will allow PLA to be used in a wider range of applications that demand stronger plastic parts. The chosen factors were infill percentage, nozzle temperature, and printing speed. The tensile strength was affected by all factors and combinations except for high levels of infill percentage, nozzle temperature, and printing speed combined.

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