Effect of the manufacturing parameters on the tensile and fracture properties of FDM 3D-printed PLA specimens

Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM), also known as material extrusion, is currently one of the most popular Additive Manufacturing (AM) technology on the market. In this study, two commercial FDM printers (Prusa i3 MK3 and WN400 3D Platform) were used for layer-by-layer manufacturing of polylactic acid (PLA) Dog Bone (DB) and Single Edge Notched Bend (SENB) specimens, aimed at investigating the influence of the manufacturing parameters on the tensile and fracture properties of PLA elements obtained by FDM technology. The effects of growing direction (horizontal and vertical), building orientation (0°, 45° and 90°), printer type, layer thickness (0.15 and 0.40 mm), specimen thickness (4 and 10 mm) and filament color (purple, white, black, gray, red, orange) are discussed in detail. Tensile tests were performed on DB specimens, while fracture mechanics tests on SENB specimens. Both the tensile and fracture properties of FDM 3D-printed PLA specimens have been found to be dependent on the investigated manufacturing parameters. From the microstructural analyses of the SENB fracture surfaces, it has been observed that the fracture mechanisms and crack propagation is a step-wise process. Finally, the material properties charts (Young’s modulus and mode I fracture toughness versus tensile strength) are plotted.