Crupano Walter, Adrover-Monserrat Bàrbara, Llumà Jordi, Jerez-Mesa Ramón, Travieso-Rodriguez J Antonio
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Escola d'Enginyeria de Barcelona Est, Mechanical Engineering Department, Av. D'Eduard Maristany, 10-14, 08019, Barcelona, Spain.
Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, Escola d'Enginyeria de Barcelona Est, Materials Science and Metallurgical Engineering Department, Av. D'Eduard Maristany, 10-14, 08019, Barcelona, Spain.
Heliyon. 2024 Sep 18;10(18):e38066. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e38066. eCollection 2024 Sep 30.
The 3D printing technique known as Material Extrusion (MEX) was initially employed for prototyping, but it has evolved to fit applications in mechanical and biomedical industries. Polylactic acid (PLA) stands out as a commonly used polymer for manufacture pieces by MEX, due to its good properties and organic origins. Pursuing renewable and biodegradable thermoplastics has led to the development materials such as composite of PLA with wood fibers and blends with poly-3-hydroxybutyrate (PHB). This study aims to characterize the effect of the most relevant printing parameters on the mechanical properties of a PLA/PHB blend, motivated by the interest to facilitate the use of this type of materials in industrial applications. To achieve it, compressive and fatigue tests were carried out, comparing the results with those obtained in previous studies for pure PLA and PLA-wood composite. Results show that the compressive behavior of PLA/PHB is influenced by the layer height, nozzle diameter and fill density. Its fatigue behavior is mainly determined by the nozzle diameter and the fill density. Moreover, the mechanical performance of PLA/PHB (Young's Modulus of 1.67 GPa, yield Strength of 33.8 MPa and maximum fatigue life of 9711 cycles) is inferior compared to pure PLA and PLA-wood composite. Despite the increase in the biodegradability that PHB introduces into PLA, the findings of this study reveal that there is statistically evidence that it can also hinder the mechanical performance of the base material.
被称为材料挤出（MEX）的3D打印技术最初用于原型制作，但已发展到适用于机械和生物医学行业的应用。聚乳酸（PLA）因其良好的性能和有机来源，成为通过MEX制造零件常用的聚合物。对可再生和可生物降解热塑性塑料的追求促使了诸如PLA与木纤维的复合材料以及与聚-3-羟基丁酸酯（PHB）的共混物等材料的开发。本研究旨在表征最相关的打印参数对PLA/PHB共混物机械性能的影响，这是出于促进这类材料在工业应用中使用的兴趣。为实现这一目标，进行了压缩和疲劳试验，并将结果与先前对纯PLA和PLA-木复合材料的研究结果进行比较。结果表明，PLA/PHB的压缩行为受层高、喷嘴直径和填充密度的影响。其疲劳行为主要由喷嘴直径和填充密度决定。此外，PLA/PHB的机械性能（杨氏模量为1.67 GPa，屈服强度为33.8 MPa，最大疲劳寿命为9711次循环）与纯PLA和PLA-木复合材料相比要差。尽管PHB提高了PLA的生物降解性，但本研究结果表明，有统计证据表明它也会阻碍基础材料的机械性能。
