Effect of Printing Parameters on Mechanical Characteristics of 3D Printed PLA

Abstract

To determine the best 3D printing settings for enhancing the mechanical characteristics of PLA that has been 3D printed, the Taguchi Design of Experiments approach was used in the study. In particular, the infill printing temperature, infill density, infill pattern, layer thickness, and post-heat treatment (annealing) temperature were optimised using the L18 orthogonal array design. A statistical method called the Taguchi Design of Experiments is used to carefully look at how various characteristics or variables impact a particular process. The L18 orthogonal array design is a type of experimental design that allows for the efficient testing of multiple factors with minimal runs. The four most important parameters: printing temperature of the infill, infill density, infill pattern and layer thickness temperature are optimized by L18 array. The optimization procedure also took post-heat treatment (annealing) temperature into account in addition to these four variables. By examining the signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio, the ideal printing parameters for the maximum tensile strength and strain percentage were identified. The desired responses were developed into a regression model. The gyroid, infill pattern, 0.16 mm layer thickness, 90% infill density, and 195 °C printing temperature were the conditions that produced the best tensile strength; however, the conditions that produced the best strain percentage were the same, with the exception of the annealing temperature. The specimen that hadn't been annealed had the highest strain percentage. Experimental validation studies were used to confirm the identified optimal conditions. The experimental results correspond with the expected values. To ascertain the effects of individual parameters and to pinpoint the most important process parameter, an analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed. The infill pattern, infill percentage, and post-printing heat treatment temperature were all found to have significant effects on the mechanical behavior of the 3D printed PLA, according to an analysis of variance (ANOVA), whereas no variable had a significant impact on the strain percentage.